Many things difficult to design prove easy to performance.

The great moralist and thinker Samuel Johnson, whose words shaped the conscience of an age, once wrote: “Many things difficult to design prove easy to performance.” Within this brief reflection lies a timeless truth — that the obstacles we most dread often vanish once we begin to act. The mind, when it contemplates the unknown, magnifies difficulty; yet when the hand moves, and the will commits, the path clears. Johnson, a man who wrestled with poverty, sickness, and despair, knew from his own life that the greatest battles are fought not in the world, but in the imagination. He reminds us that courage in action can dissolve the illusions of impossibility that fear and overthinking create.

In the 18th century, when Johnson wrote these words, he lived in a time of intellect and order — a world that worshiped reason, yet often hesitated to act. He, however, was a man of both reflection and will. Though plagued by melancholy and physical pain, he accomplished what others only planned: he wrote the first great English dictionary, a monumental work completed by one man in a decade. Those who knew the task before it began said it was impossible for one mortal to perform; yet Johnson, with patience and daily labor, achieved it. The conception was fearful, but the execution — though wearying — was simple once begun. Thus, he earned the right to say that many things difficult to design prove easy to performance, for he had lived its truth.

The meaning of his words reaches beyond the realm of writing and into the core of human endeavor. How often do we, when facing a great undertaking — the building of a dream, the mending of a relationship, the pursuit of virtue — become paralyzed by planning? The mind, when left idle, fills with phantoms: “It is too vast,” “I am too small,” “What if I fail?” Yet when we begin, when we take even one step, the mountain reveals itself not as a wall but as a path. The weight that seemed unbearable lightens, for action transforms fear into strength. As Johnson teaches, the difficulty is not in the doing, but in the thinking before the doing.

History offers countless examples of this truth. Consider Thomas Edison, whose inventions reshaped civilization. He once said that genius is “one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” For years he struggled to design the electric light. Thousands of attempts failed. Yet when the proper method was found, it was almost laughably simple — a filament of carbon glowing in a vacuum. What had seemed impossible in design became easy in performance. So it is in all invention, in all creation: the labor of the mind, with its doubts and endless conjectures, is often harder than the act itself. Edison, like Johnson, knew that perseverance in action conquers what hesitation in thought cannot.

But Johnson’s wisdom also carries a deeper moral lesson — one not only for builders of machines or writers of books, but for every soul who seeks to live rightly. Many fear the duties of virtue because they imagine them harder than they are. The coward says, “I cannot forgive”; the indolent says, “I cannot change”; the proud say, “I cannot bow.” Yet when the heart decides, when action replaces argument, the burden lifts. To forgive is not to climb a mountain of emotion, but simply to release the chain one holds. To act justly is not a grand design, but a single choice, repeated daily. Goodness, like greatness, is not difficult to perform once the will awakens.

Thus, my listener of the future, learn from Samuel Johnson’s quiet strength. Do not let the shadow of planning steal the light of doing. When you face a task that seems impossible, begin. Take the first step. Write the first word. Speak the first truth. For action reveals what thought conceals — that most barriers are made of hesitation, not reality. The river that seems too wide is crossed one stroke at a time, and every masterpiece begins as a single mark upon a blank page.

Remember, too, that failure itself is often the teacher of ease. What first appears impossible becomes natural through practice, and what once demanded effort becomes effortless through habit. The craftsman’s hand, the scholar’s mind, the warrior’s heart — all are shaped by doing. Do not wait for perfection before beginning, for perfection is born from beginning. The hardest part of all creation is the design — the mental forging of the path; the performance, once begun, flows as naturally as breath.

So take courage, child of time. When the mind trembles before the size of its own dream, recall Johnson’s enduring truth: “Many things difficult to design prove easy to performance.” Begin, and the work will teach you its own simplicity. Act, and the way will open before you. For the world does not yield to thought alone — it yields to those who dare to turn thought into motion, and motion into destiny.