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
atheism atheist deny faith greater infinitely measure receive requires truths
To be an atheist requires an infinitely greater measure of faith than to receive all the great truths which atheism would deny
force gives great ideas lively sight themselves
Words, when well chosen, have so great a force in them that a description often gives us more lively ideas than the sight of things themselves
english-writer good greatest heaven mortals
Music, the greatest good that mortals know and all of heaven we have here below.
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.
blessings cloudy great influence
A cloudy day, or a little sunshine, have as great an influence on many constitutions as the most real blessings or misfortunes
independent greatness men
He only is a great man who can neglect the applause of the multitude and enjoy himself independent of its favor.
greatness defense obscurity
There is no defense against reproach, but obscurity; it is a kind of concomitant to greatness.
greatness age matter
It is the privilege of posterity to set matters right between those antagonists who, by their rivalry for greatness, divided a whole age.
greatness soul looks
A solid and substantial greatness of soul looks down with neglect on the censures and applauses of the multitude.
humility exercise greatness
A contemplation of God's works, a generous concern for the good of mankind, and the unfeigned exercise of humility only, denominate men great and glorious.
years yesterday great-day
When I read the several dates of the tombs, of some that died yesterday, and some six hundred years ago, I consider that great day when we shall all of us be contemporaries, and make our appearance together.
good greatest heaven mortals
Music, the greatest good that mortals know, and all of heaven we have below.
above knowledge next raises truly virtue
Knowledge is that which, next to virtue, truly raises one person above another.
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