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About this quote

What does it mean?
The speaker admits hypocrisy while still urging others to rise early.
In plain terms
He admits not waking early but says you should.
What can you take from it?
Even if you don't practice it, the advice on routine stands.

Where it applies

  • personal development
  • leadership
  • self-improvement

Putting it to work

  • establish morning routines
  • align words and actions

Questions to consider

  • Does bad example invalidate good advice?
  • Why is discipline hard?

Another view

Advice is weaker when the giver fails to follow it.

More from Samuel Johnson

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  2. Wickedness is always easier than virtue; for it takes the short cut to everything.

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  3. I fancy mankind may come, in time, to write all aphoristically, except in narrative; grow weary of preparation, and connection, and illustration, and all those…

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