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
blue firmament great original shining
The spacious firmament on high, / And all the blue ethereal sky, / And spangled heavens, a shining frame, / Their great Original proclaim.
avoid care escape next
A man's first care should be to avoid the reproaches of his own heart, and his next to escape the censures of the world.
few happy life man question render scattered yield
The important question is not what will yield to man a few scattered pleasures, but what will render his life happy on the whole amount.
becomes extricate mind till unable water
Our disputants put me in mind of the scuttle fish, that when he is unable to extricate himself, blackens all the water about him, till he becomes invisible.
bosom brother caution elder experience guardian hope perseverance success wise wish
If you wish success in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counselor, caution your elder brother and hope your guardian genius.
consider man might unhappy
A man should always consider how much more unhappy he might be than he is
creatures perverse
These widows, sir, are the most perverse creatures in the world.
conversation himself less man method provided requisite talk understood
Method is not less requisite in conversation than in writing, provided a man would talk to make himself understood
attacking generally good human laugh men ridicule virtue
Ridicule is generally made use of to laugh men out of virtue and good sense, by attacking everything praiseworthy in human life.
mankind rather species spectator
I live in the world rather as a spectator of mankind than as one of the species
gift gravity men-and-women vivacity
As vivacity is the gift of women, gravity is that of men.
active best itself learning looked man parts qualify virtue
Learning is pedantry, wit, impertinence, virtue itself looked like weakness, and the best parts only qualify a man to be more sprightly in errors, and active to his own prejudice.
happiness inspiration health
Cheerfulness is the best promoter of health and is as friendly to the mind as to the body.
happiness patience pain
Our real blessings often appear to us in the shape of pains, losses and disappointments; but let us have patience and we soon shall see them in their proper figures.