Sir, you must not neglect doing a thing immediately good from fear of remote evil; - from fear of its being abused.
Interpretation
This quote advises against hesitating to do good deeds due to the fear of potential negative consequences.
Samuel Johnson emphasizes the importance of taking action to do good, even when there is a concern that the outcome may not be entirely positive. He illustrates the idea that one should not let the fear of possible abuse or misinterpretation of a good deed prevent them from acting with kindness and generosity. This wisdom urges us to prioritize our intentions and the immediate positive impact of our actions over hypothetical fears of potential misuse.
In practice
A speaker at a charity event can use this quote to encourage contributions without fear of misallocation.
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 have always observed that to succeed in the world one should seem a fool, but be wise.
Most of us follow our conscience as we follow a wheelbarrow. We push it in front of us in the direction we want to go.
One of the common failings among honorable people is a failure to appreciate how thoroughly dishonorable some other people can be, and how dangerous it is to trust them.
When you think everything is someone else's fault, you will suffer a lot.
You will always be too much of something for someone: too big, too loud, too soft, too edgy. If you round out your edges, you lose your edge. Apologize for mistakes. Apologize for unintentionally hurting someone - profusely. But don't apologize for being who you are.
Never did he once consider directing his hatred toward the hunters. Such an emotion would have destroyed him ... His subconscious knew what his min did not guess-that hating them would have consumed him, burned him up like a piece of soft coal, leaving only flakes of ash and a question mark of smoke.
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