Joseph Addison: Trending quotes

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Joseph Addison: 452 quotes40 likes

“Sir Roger made several reflections on the greatness of the British Nation; as, that one Englishman could beat three Frenchmen; that we could never be in danger of Popery so long as we took care of our fleet; that the Thames was the noblest river in Europe…with many other honest prejudices which naturally cleave to the heart of a true Englishman.”

Joseph Addison

No. 383 (20 May 1712).
The Spectator (1711–1714)

“A just and reasonable modesty does not only recommend eloquence, but sets off every great talent which a man can be possessed of.”

Joseph Addison

No. 231 (24 November 1711).
The Spectator (1711–1714)

“If men would consider not so much where they differ, as wherein they agree, there would be far less of uncharitableness and angry feeling in the world.”

Joseph Addison

Attributed to "Addison" in A Dictionary of Thoughts : Being a Cyclopedia of Laconic Quotations from the Best Authors of the World, both Ancient and Modern (1908) edited by Tryon Edwards, p. 117, but this might be the later "Mr. Addison" who was credited with publishing Interesting Anecdotes, Memoirs, Allegories, Essays, and Poetical Fragments (1794).
Disputed

“Mirth is like a flash of lightning, that breaks through a gloom of clouds, and glitters for a moment; cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind, and fills it with a steady and perpetual serenity.”

Joseph Addison

No. 381 (17 May 1712).
The Spectator (1711–1714)

“Death only closes a Man's Reputation, and determines it as good or bad.”

Joseph Addison

No. 349 (10 April 1712)
Famously seen on the brothel wall in the film Easy Rider.
The Spectator (1711–1714)

“For wheresoe'er I turn my ravished eyes,
Gay gilded scenes and shining prospects rise,
Poetic fields encompass me around,
And still I seem to tread on classic ground.”

Joseph Addison

A Letter from Italy, to the Right Honourable Charles, Lord Halifax. 1701.

“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

No. 215 (6 November 1711).
The Spectator (1711–1714)

“Our delight in any particular study, art, or science rises and improves in proportion to the application which we bestow upon it. Thus, what was at first an exercise becomes at length an entertainment.”

Joseph Addison

No. 447 (2 August 1712).
The Spectator (1711–1714)

“When you are at Rome, live as Romans live.”

Joseph Addison

St. Ambrose, Si fueris Romæ, Romano vivito more as translated in Latin Proverbs and Quotations (1869) by Alfred Henderson; very commonly paraphrased as "When in Rome do as the Romans do".
Misattributed

“Reading is a basic tool in the living of a good life.”

Joseph Addison

The earliest attributions of this remark to anyone are in 1941, to Mortimer Adler, in How To Read A Book (1940), although this actually a paraphrased shortening of a statement in his preface: Reading — as explained (and defended) in this book — is a basic tool in the living of a good life.
Misattributed

“There is no virtue so truly great and godlike as justice.”

Joseph Addison

No. 99.
The Guardian (1713)

“Were you with these, my prince, you'd soon forget
The pale, unripened beauties of the north.”

Joseph Addison book Cato

Act I, scene iv.
Cato, A Tragedy (1713)

“Plenty of people wish to become devout, but no one wishes to be humble.”

Joseph Addison

A translation of one of La Rochefoucauld's maxims, published posthumously in 1693. In the original: "Force gens veulent être dévots, mais personne ne veut être humble.".
Misattributed

“It is only imperfection that complains of what is imperfect. The more perfect we are the more gentle and quiet we become towards the defects of others.”

Joseph Addison

François Fénelon, in Selections from the Writings of Fenelon: With an appendix, containing a Memoir of his Life (1829) as translated by A Lady (Eliza Lee Cabot Follen) http://books.google.com/books?id=qJ4rAAAAYAAJ, Letter 37, p. 189. <br class="br">Misattributed

“Loveliest of women! heaven is in thy soul,
Beauty and virtue shine forever round thee,
Bright'ning each other! thou art all divine!”

Joseph Addison book Cato

Act III, scene ii.
Cato, A Tragedy (1713)

“The chief ingredients in the composition of those qualities that gain esteem and praise, are good nature, truth, good sense, and good breeding.”

Joseph Addison

William Temple, in "Heads Designed for an Essay on Conversation" in The Works of Sir William Temple, Bart. in Four Volumes (1757), Vol. III, p. 547.
Misattributed

“A day, an hour, of virtuous liberty
Is worth a whole eternity in bondage.”

Joseph Addison book Cato

Act II, scene i.
Cato, A Tragedy (1713)

“Thy steady temper, Portius,
Can look on guilt, rebellion, fraud, and Cæsar,
In the calm lights of mild philosophy.”

Joseph Addison book Cato

Act I, scene i.
Cato, A Tragedy (1713)

“What though no real voice nor sound
Amid their radiant orbs be found;
In reason's ear they all rejoice,
And utter forth a glorious voice,
Forever singing as they shine,
"The Hand that made us divine."”

Joseph Addison

No. 465, Ode (23 August 1712).
The Spectator (1711–1714)

“Health and cheerfulness mutually beget each other.”

Joseph Addison

No. 387 (24 May 1712).
The Spectator (1711–1714)