I hope I shall never be deterred from detecting what I think a cheat, by the menaces of a ruffian.
Interpretation
Stand firm in your convictions despite threats or intimidation.
This quote emphasizes the importance of steadfastness in one's principles and the courage to resist intimidation from those who might try to suppress the truth. Samuel Johnson advocates for an unwavering commitment to justice and integrity, suggesting that one should never be discouraged from uncovering deceit, regardless of the threats posed by unscrupulous individuals.
In practice
In a debate about ethics, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of standing up for what is right.
To be of no church is dangerous. Religion, of which the rewards are distant, and which is animated only by faith and hope, will glide by degrees out of the mind unless it be invigorated and reimpressed by external ordinances, by stated calls to worship, and the salutary influence of example.
He that reads and grows no wiser seldom suspects his own deficiency, but complains of hard words and obscure sentences, and asks why books are written which cannot be understood.
To let friendship die away by negligence and silence is certainly not wise. It is voluntarily to throw away one of the greatest comforts of the weary pilgrimage.
Fly-fishing may be a very pleasant amusement; but angling or float fishing I can only compare to a stick and a string, with a worm at one end and a fool at the other.
When any anxiety or gloom of the mind takes hold of you, make it a rule not to publish it by complaining; but exert yourselves to hide it, and by endeavoring to hide it you drive it away.
A fishing rod is a stick with a hook at one end and a fool at the other.
I would rather be alone and a loud voice for action than be silent.
I trust that God wouldn't give me more than I can handle. I just wish he didn't have such faith in me.
Sometimes people don't want to be empowered because they are afraid of being the person to make the decisions.
Flying is the only active profession I would ever continue with enthusiasm after the War.
When the principles that run against your deepest convictions begin to win the day, then the battle is your calling, and peace has become sin. You must at the price of dearest peace lay your convictions bare before friend and enemy with all the fire of your faith.
There are men in the world who derive an exaltation from the proximity of disaster and ruin, as other from success.
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