#josephaddison — Public Fediverse posts

A quotation from Joseph Addison

When Men are easy in their Circumstances, they are naturally Enemies to Innovations.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1716-05-16), The Freeholder, No. 42

More about this quote: wist.info/addison-joseph/83076…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #josephaddison #circumstance #comfort #conservative #ease #statusquo #situation #satisfaction

A quotation from Joseph Addison

Knowledge is, indeed, that which, next to virtue, truly and essentially raises one man above another. It finishes one half of the human Soul. It makes Being pleasant to us, fills the mind with entertaining views and administers to it a perpetual series of gratifications. It gives ease to fortitude, and gracefulness to retirement. It fills a publick station with suitable abilities, and adds a lustre to those who are in the possession of them.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1713-07-18), The Guardian, No. 111

More about this quote: wist.info/addison-joseph/82734…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #josephaddison #education #excellence #knowledge #learning #superiority

A quotation from Addison

When a nation once loses its regard to justice; when they do not look up it as something venerable, holy and inviolable; when any of them dare presume to lessen, affront or terrify those who have the distribution of it in their hands; when a judge is capable of being influenced by any thing that is foreign to its own merits, we may venture to pronounce that such a nation is hastening to its ruin.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1713-07-04), The Guardian, No. 99

More about this quote: wist.info/addison-joseph/82451…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #addison #josephaddison #corruption #decline #influence #injustice #judge #judicialsystem #judiciary #justice #legalsystem #ruin

A quotation from Joseph Addison

LUCIUS: From hence, let fierce contending nations know,
   What dire effects from civil discord flow.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Cato, Act 5, sc. 4, l. 106ff (1713)

More about this quote: wist.info/addison-joseph/82267…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #josephaddison #civildiscord #civilwar #discord #disunity #internecinewarfare #strife

A quotation from Joseph Addison

CATO: Forbear, Sempronius! — see they suffer death,
   But in their deaths remember they are men.
   Strain not the laws to make their tortures grievous.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Cato, Act 3, sc. 5, l. 60ff (1713)

More about this quote: wist.info/addison-joseph/82136…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #josephaddison #addison #capitalpunishment #death #deathpenalty #punishment #torture

A quotation from Joseph Addison

MARCUS: Oh Portius, is there not some chosen curse,
   Some hidden thunder in the stores of heav’n
   Red with uncommon wrath to blast the man,
   Who owes his greatness to his country’s ruin?

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Cato, Act 1, sc. 1, l. 20ff (1713)

More about this quote: wist.info/addison-joseph/81926…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #josephaddison #addison #divineretribution #divinewrath #fame #greatness #patriotism #revolution

A quotation from Joseph Addison

As exercise becomes tedious and painful when we make use of it only as the means of health, so reading is apt to grow uneasy and burdensome, when we apply ourselves to it only for our improvement in virtue. For this reason, the virtue which we gather from a fable, or an allegory, is like the health we get by hunting; as we are engaged in an agreeable pursuit that draws us on with pleasure, and makes us insensible of the fatigues that accompany it.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1709-03-18), The Tatler, No. 147

More about this quote: wist.info/addison-joseph/80785…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #josephaddison #books #drudgery #duty #engagement #entertainment #reading #selfimprovement #enjoyment

A quotation from Addison

A cheerful temper, joined with innocence, will make beauty attractive, knowledge delightful, and wit good-natured.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1710-07-01), The Tatler, No. 192

More about this quote: wist.info/addison-joseph/34505…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #josephaddison #beauty #character #cheer #cheerfulness #goodnature #innocence #knowledge #meme #temper #temperament #wit #women

A quotation from Joseph Addison

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.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-03-30), “Thoughts in Westminster Abbey,” The Spectator, No. 26

More about this quote: wist.info/addison-joseph/6138/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #josephaddison #death #history #humanity #lastjudgment #mortality #perspective #time

A quotation from Joseph Addison

I yesterday passed a whole afternoon in the churchyard, the cloisters, and the church, amusing myself with the tombstones and inscriptions that I met with in those several regions of the dead. Most of them recorded nothing else of the buried person, but that he was born upon one day, and died upon another: the whole history of his life being comprehended in those two circumstances, that are common to all mankind. I could not but look upon these registers of existence, whether of brass or marble, as a kind of satire upon the departed persons; who had left no other memorial of them, but that they were born and that they died. They put me in mind of several persons mentioned in the battles of heroic poems, who have sounding names given them, for no other reason but that they may be killed, and are celebrated for nothing but being knocked on the head.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-03-30), “Thoughts in Westminster Abbey,” The Spectator, No. 26

More info about this quote: wist.info/addison-joseph/80135…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #josephaddison #graveyard #cemetery #birth #death #impact #legacy #meaningoflife #memorial #obscurity #remembrance #tombstone #history

A quotation from Joseph Addison

I value my garden more for being full of blackbirds than of cherries, and very frankly give them fruit for their songs.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1712-09-06), The Spectator, No. 477

More info about this quote: wist.info/addison-joseph/80013…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #josephaddison #birds #birdsong #blackbirds #cherries #fruit #garden #nature

A quotation from Joseph Addison

In all thy humours, whether grave or mellow,
   Thou’rt such a touchy, testy, pleasant fellow ,
Hast so much wit, and mirth, and spleen about thee,
   There is no living with thee, nor without thee.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-05-18), The Spectator, No. 68

More info about this quote: wist.info/addison-joseph/79835…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #josephaddison #character #friendship #gettingalong #partnership #personality #relationship

A quotation from Joseph Addison

The Lord my pasture shall prepare,
And feed me with a shepherd’s care;
His presence shall my wants supply,
And guard me with a watchful eye.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Poem (1712-07-26), “Psalm 23,” st. 1, ll. 1-4, The Spectator, No. 441

More info about this quote: wist.info/addison-joseph/79376…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #josephaddison #divinefavor #divinemercy #God #guardian #protection #psalm #psalm23 #providence

A quotation from Joseph Addison

Cheerfulness is, in the first place, the best promoter of health. Repinings, and secret murmurs of heart, give imperceptible strokes to those delicate fibres of which the vital parts are composed, and wear out the machine insensibly; not to mention those violent ferments which they stir up in the blood, and those irregular disturbed motions which they raise in the animal spirits.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1712-05-24), The Spectator, No. 387

More info about this quote: wist.info/addison-joseph/79194…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #josephaddison #cheer #cheerfulness #emotionalhealth #goodattitude #goodcheer #goodmood #health #healthiness #healthyliving #mindbody #positiveattitude

A quotation from Joseph Addison

Were not this desire of fame very strong, the difficulty of obtaining it, and the danger of losing it when obtained, would be sufficient to deter a man from so vain a pursuit.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-12-22), The Spectator, No. 255

More info about this quote: wist.info/addison-joseph/78975…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #josephaddison #ambition #celebrity #ego #fame #renown #vanity

A quotation from Joseph Addison

We should esteem virtue though in a foe, and abhor vice though in a friend.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-12-08), The Spectator, No. 243

More info about this quote: wist.info/addison-joseph/78709…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #josephaddison #enemy #fairness #favoritism #foe #friend #hypocrisy #integrity #judgment #justice #vice #virtue

A quotation from Joseph Addison

I consider an human soul without education like marble in the quarry, which shews none of its inherent beauties till the skill of the polisher fetches out the colours, makes the surface shine, and discovers every ornamental cloud, spot and vein that runs through the body of it.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-11-06), The Spectator, No. 215

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/addison-joseph/78581…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #josephaddison #crafting #education #learning #refinement #schooling #sculpting #teachers #teaching

A quotation from Addison

I have somewhere met with the epitaph of a charitable man, which has very much pleased me. I cannot recollect the words, but the sense of it is to this purpose: What I spent I lost; what I possessed is left to others; what I gave away remains with me.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-09-27), The Spectator, No. 177

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/addison-joseph/78303…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #josephaddison #charity #death #giving #givingaway #possessions #wealth

A quotation from Joseph Addison

A man’s first care should be to avoid the reproaches of his own heart; his next to escape the censures of the world: if the last interferes with the former, it ought to be entirely neglected; but otherwise there cannot be a greater satisfaction to an honest mind, than to see those approbations which it gives itself seconded by the applauses of the public: a man is more sure of his conduct, when the verdict which he passes upon his own behaviour is thus warranted and confirmed by the opinion of all that know him.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-07-20), The Spectator, No. 122

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/addison-joseph/6872/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #josephaddison #applause #conscience #publicopinion #publicsupport #selfapproval #selfconfidence #selfjudgment

A quotation from Joseph Addison

A man’s first care should be to avoid the reproaches of his own heart; his next to escape the censures of the world: if the last interferes with the former, it ought to be entirely neglected; but otherwise there cannot be a greater satisfaction to an honest mind, than to see those approbations which it gives itself seconded by the applauses of the public: a man is more sure of his conduct, when the verdict which he passes upon his own behaviour is thus warranted and confirmed by the opinion of all that know him.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-07-20), The Spectator, No. 122

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/addison-joseph/6872/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #josephaddison #applause #conscience #publicopinion #publicsupport #selfapproval #selfconfidence #selfjudgment

A quotation from Joseph Addison

A man’s first care should be to avoid the reproaches of his own heart; his next to escape the censures of the world: if the last interferes with the former, it ought to be entirely neglected; but otherwise there cannot be a greater satisfaction to an honest mind, than to see those approbations which it gives itself seconded by the applauses of the public: a man is more sure of his conduct, when the verdict which he passes upon his own behaviour is thus warranted and confirmed by the opinion of all that know him.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-07-20), The Spectator, No. 122

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/addison-joseph/6872/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #josephaddison #applause #conscience #publicopinion #publicsupport #selfapproval #selfconfidence #selfjudgment

A quotation from Joseph Addison

Every one that has been long dead has a due proportion of praise allotted him, in which, whilst he lived, his friends were too profuse, and his enemies too sparing.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-06-26), The Spectator, No. 101

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/addison-joseph/77836…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #josephaddison #criticism #evaluation #historicalfigure #history #judgment #partisanship #perspective #praise

A quotation from Joseph Addison

Persons in great stations have seldom their true characters drawn till several years after their deaths. 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 to them.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-06-26), The Spectator, No. 101

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/addison-joseph/77666…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #josephaddison #perspective #assessment #biography #history #legacy #objectivity #perspective #posterity #retrospect

A quotation from Joseph Addison

“Censure,” says a late ingenious author, “is the tax a man pays for being eminent.” It is a folly for an eminent man to think of escaping it, and a weakness to be affected with it. All the illustrious persons of antiquity, and indeed of every age in the world, have passed through this fiery persecution. There is no defense against reproach but obscurity; it is a kind of concomitant to greatness, as satires and invectives were an essential part of a Roman triumph.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-06-26), The Spectator, No. 101

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/addison-joseph/77248…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #josephaddison #attack #calumny #celebrity #censure #criticism #critique #eminence #fame #greatness #libel #prominence #reproach #slander

A quotation from Joseph Addison

There is not so variable a thing in Nature as a lady’s head-dress.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-06-22), The Spectator, No. 98

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/addison-joseph/77113…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #josephaddison #fashion #finery #hats #style #vogue #women

A quotation from Joseph Addison

Even the greatest actions of a celebrated person labour under this disadvantage, that, however surprising and extraordinary they may be, they are no more than what are expected from him; but, on the contrary, if they fall any thing below the opinion that is conceived of him, though they might raise the reputation of another, they are diminution to his.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-12-24), The Spectator, No. 256

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/addison-joseph/76871…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #josephaddison #baseline #celebrity #expectations #highbar #renown #reputation

A quotation from Addison

Good-nature is more agreeable in conversation than wit, and gives a certain air to the countenance which is more amiable than beauty. It shows virtue in the fairest light, takes off in some measure from the deformity of vice, and makes even folly and impertinence supportable.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-09-13), The Spectator, No. 169

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/addison-joseph/6068/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #josephaddison #amiability #beauty #character #cheer #cheerfulness #conversation #forgiveness #goodcheer #goodnature #niceness #rogue #vice #virtue