Joseph Addison
Joseph Addison
Joseph Addisonwas an English essayist, poet, playwright, and politician. He was the eldest son of The Reverend Lancelot Addison. His name is usually remembered alongside that of his long-standing friend, Richard Steele, with whom he founded The Spectator magazine...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth1 May 1672
party character opportunity
Persons in great stations have seldom their true character drawn till several years after their death. Their personal friendships and enmities must cease, and the parties they were engaged in be at an end, before their faults or their virtues can have justice done them. When writers have the least opportunities of knowing the truth, they are in the best disposition to tell it.
kings law ties
Honour's a sacred tie, the law of kings, The noble mind's distinguishing perfection That aids and strengthens virtue where it meets her And imitates her actions where she is not: It is not to be sported with.
dust littles looks
Look what a little vain dust we are!
ignorance yield evil
Misery and ignorance are always the cause of great evils. Misery is easily excited to anger, and ignorance soon yields to perfidious counsels.
freedom liberty delight
Oh, Liberty! thou goddess heavenly bright! Profuse of bliss, and pregnant with delight! Eternal pleasures in thy presence reign, And smiling plenty leads thy wanton train.
action fame ultimate-happiness
Many actions calculated to procure fame are not conducive to ultimate happiness.
alchemist contentment desire
Contentment produces, in some measure, all those effects which the alchemist usually ascribes to what he calls the philosopher's stone; and if it does not bring riches, it does the same thing by banishing the desire for them.
courage justice fortitude
True fortitude is seen in great exploits That justice warrants, and that wisdom guides; And all else is tow'ring phrenzy and distraction.
coats fine higher
A fine coat is but a livery when the person who wears it discovers no higher sense than that of a footman.
pride color doe
The peacock in all his pride does not display half the colors that appear in the garments of a British lady when she is dressed.
writing people excellence
To this end, nothing is to be more carefully consulted than plainness. In a lady's attire this is the single excellence; for to be what some people call fine, is the same vice, in that case, as to be florid is in writing or speaking.
rocks liberty mountain
T is liberty crowns Britannia's Isle, And makes her barren rocks and her bleak mountains smile.
evil action sin
An evil intention perverts the best actions, and makes them sins.
moving pride littles
Love, anger, pride and avarice all visibly move in those little orbs.