JOSEPH ADDISON QUOTES III

English essayist, poet & playwright (1672-1719)

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

Tags: ambition


In doing what we ought we deserve no praise, because it is our duty.

JOSEPH ADDISON

Cato

Tags: praise, duty


Men of warm imaginations and towering thoughts are apt to overlook the goods of fortune which are near them, for something that glitters in the sight at a distance; to neglect solid and substantial happiness for what is showy and superficial; and to contemn that good which lies within their reach, for that which they are not capable of attaining. Hope calculates its schemes for a long and durable life; presses forward to imaginary points of bliss; grasps at impossibilities; and consequently very often ensnares men into beggary, ruin, and dishonour.

JOSEPH ADDISON

The Spectator, Nov. 13, 1712

Tags: hope, imagination


Modesty is not only an ornament, but also a guard to virtue.

JOSEPH ADDISON

The Spectator, Nov. 24, 1711

Tags: modesty, virtue


Music religious heat inspires / It wakes the soul, and lifts it high / And wings it with sublime desires / And fits it to bespeak the Deity.

JOSEPH ADDISON

Song for St. Cecilia's Day

Tags: music


Nature does nothing without purpose or uselessly.

JOSEPH ADDISON

Cato

Tags: nature


Poverty palls the most generous spirits; it cows industry, and casts resolution itself into despair.

JOSEPH ADDISON

attributed, Day's Collacon

Tags: poverty


The spacious firmament on nigh,
With all the blue ethereal sky,
And spangled heavens, a shining frame,
Their great Original proclaim.
Forever singing, as they shine,
The hand that made us is divine.

JOSEPH ADDISON

Ode: The Spacious Firmament on High

Tags: stars


To be exempt from the passions with which others are tormented, is the only pleasing solitude.

JOSEPH ADDISON

The Spectator, Mar. 5, 1711

Tags: passion, solitude


Health and cheerfulness mutually beget each other.

JOSEPH ADDISON

The Spectator, No. 387

Tags: health


How beautiful is death, when earn'd by virtue!

JOSEPH ADDISON

Cato

Tags: death, virtue


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

Tags: merit


Title and ancestry render a good man more illustrious, but an ill one more contemptible.

JOSEPH ADDISON

The Guardian, Aug. 1, 1713


From theme to theme with secret pleasure tossed,
Amidst the soft variety I'm lost.

JOSEPH ADDISON

Poems on Several Occasions

Tags: variety


If there's a power above us, (And that there is all nature cries aloud through all her works) he must delight in virtue.

JOSEPH ADDISON

Cato

Tags: God, virtue


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

Tags: intentions


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

Tags: virtue, patriotism


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

Tags: faults


'Tis pride, rank pride, and haughtiness of soul:
I think the Romans call it Stoicism.

JOSEPH ADDISON

Cato

Tags: pride


A man must be excessively stupid, as well as uncharitable, who believes that there is no virtue but on his own side, and that there are not men as honest as himself who may differ from him in political principles.

JOSEPH ADDISON

The Spectator, Dec. 8, 1711

Tags: virtue, politics