English essayist, poet & playwright (1672-1719)
Modesty is not only an ornament, but also a guard to virtue.
JOSEPH ADDISON
The Spectator, Nov. 24, 1711
Exercise ferments the humors, casts them into their proper channels, throws off redundancies, and helps nature in those secret distributions, without which the body cannot subsist in its vigor, nor the soul act with cheerfulness.
JOSEPH ADDISON
The Spectator, Jul. 12, 1711
Health and cheerfulness mutually beget each other.
JOSEPH ADDISON
The Spectator, No. 387
It is the duty of all who make philosophy the entertainment of their lives, to turn their thoughts to practical schemes for the good of society, and not pass away their time in fruitless searches, which tend rather to the ostentation of knowledge than the service of life.
JOSEPH ADDISON
The Tatler, Dec. 9, 1710
In doing what we ought we deserve no praise, because it is our duty.
JOSEPH ADDISON
Cato
How beautiful is death, when earn'd by virtue!
JOSEPH ADDISON
Cato
Rais'd of themselves, their genuine charms they boast
And those who paint 'em truest praise 'em most.
JOSEPH ADDISON
The Campaign
Title and ancestry render a good man more illustrious, but an ill one more contemptible.
JOSEPH ADDISON
The Guardian, Aug. 1, 1713
A man who takes delight in hearing the faults of others, shows sufficiently that he has a true relish of scandal, and consequently the seeds of this vice within him. If his mind is gratified with hearing the reproaches which are cast on others, he will find the same pleasure in relating them, and be the more apt to do it, as he will naturally imagine every one he converses with is delighted in the same manner with himself.
JOSEPH ADDISON
The Spectator, September 15, 1714
For how few ambitious men are there, who have got as much fame as they desired, and whose thirst after it has not been as eager in the very height of their reputation, as it was before they became known and eminent among men?
JOSEPH ADDISON
The Spectator, No. 256
The honors of this world, what are they but puff, and emptiness, and peril of falling?
JOSEPH ADDISON
Cato
Young men soon give and soon forget affronts; old age is slow in both.
JOSEPH ADDISON
Cato
'Tis pride, rank pride, and haughtiness of soul:
I think the Romans call it Stoicism.
JOSEPH ADDISON
Cato
Thy father's merit sets thee up to view,
And shows thee in the fairest point of light,
To make thy virtues, or thy faults, conspicuous.
JOSEPH ADDISON
Cato
From theme to theme with secret pleasure tossed,
Amidst the soft variety I'm lost.
JOSEPH ADDISON
Poems on Several Occasions
There is no greater sign of a general decay of virtue in a nation, than a want of zeal in its inhabitants for the good of their country.
JOSEPH ADDISON
The Freeholder, Jan. 6, 1716
To be exempt from the passions with which others are tormented, is the only pleasing solitude.
JOSEPH ADDISON
The Spectator, Mar. 5, 1711
A true critic ought to dwell rather upon excellencies than imperfections, to discover the concealed beauties of a writer, and communicate to the world such things as are worth their observation.
JOSEPH ADDISON
The Spectator, Feb. 2, 1712
What an absurd thing it is to pass over all the valuable parts of a man, and fix our attention on his infirmities.
JOSEPH ADDISON
The Spectator, Dec. 15, 1711
It is an unspeakable advantage to possess our minds with an habitual good intention, and to aim all our thoughts, words, and actions, at some laudable end.
JOSEPH ADDISON
The Spectator: In Eight Volumes, Volume 3