Joseph Addison: Quotes about nature

“True happiness is of a retired nature, and an enemy to pomp and noise; it arises, in the first place, from the enjoyment of one's self, and in the next, from the friendship and conversation of a few select companions.”

Joseph Addison

No. 15 (March 17, 1711).
The Spectator (1711–1714)

Friendship , Nature , Happiness

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

Joseph Addison

No. 192.
The Tatler (1711–1714)

Beauty , Nature , Knowledge

“The cast of mind which is natural to a discreet man, make him look forward into futurity, and consider what will be his condition millions of ages hence, as well as what it is at present.”

Joseph Addison

No. 225.
The Tatler (1711–1714)
Context: The cast of mind which is natural to a discreet man, make him look forward into futurity, and consider what will be his condition millions of ages hence, as well as what it is at present. He knows that the misery or happiness which are reserved for him in another world, lose nothing of their reality by being placed at so great a distance from him. The objects do not appear little to him because they are remote. He considers that those pleasures and pains which lie hid in eternity, approach nearer to him every moment, and will be present with him in their full weight and measure, as much as those pains and pleasures which he feels at this very instant. For this reason he is careful to secure to himself that which is the proper happiness of his nature, and the ultimate design of his being. He carries his thoughts to the end of every action, and considers the most distant as well as the most immediate effects of it. He supersedes every little prospect of gain and advantage which offers itself here, if he does not find it consistent with his views of an hereafter. In a word, his hopes are full of immortality, his schemes are large and glorious, and his conduct suitable to one who knows his true interest, and how to pursue it by proper methods.

Age , Nature , Future

“Should the whole frame of Nature round him break,
In ruin and confusion hurled,
He, unconcerned, would hear the mighty crack,
And stand secure amidst a falling world.”

Joseph Addison

Translation of Horace, Odes, Book III, ode iii.

World , Nature

“The sense of honour is of so fine and delicate a nature, that it is only to be met with in minds which are naturally noble, or in such as have been cultivated by good examples, or a refined education.”

Joseph Addison

No. 161.
The Guardian (1713)

Education , Nature , Sense

“Man is subject to innumerable pains and sorrows by the very condition of humanity, and yet, as if nature had not sown evils enough in life, we are continually adding grief to grief, and aggravating the common calamity by our cruel treatment of one another.”

Joseph Addison

No. 169 (13 September 1711).
The Spectator (1711–1714)

Life , Pain , Nature , Evil

“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

No. 115 (12 July 1711).
The Spectator (1711–1714)

Secret , Exercises , Soul , Nature

“What means this heaviness that hangs upon me?
This lethargy that creeps through all my senses?
Nature, oppress'd and harrass'd out with care,
Sinks down to rest.”

Joseph Addison book Cato

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

Nature , Sense

“The stars shall fade away, the sun himself
Grow dim with age, and nature sink in years,
But thou shalt flourish in immortal youth,
Unhurt amidst the wars of elements,
The wrecks of matter, and the crush of worlds.”

Joseph Addison book Cato

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

War , Youth , Age , World

“When men are easy in their circumstances, they are naturally enemies to innovations.”

Joseph Addison

The Freeholder, no. 42.

Men , Nature

“A misery is not to be measured from the nature of the evil, but from the temper of the sufferer.”

Joseph Addison

No. 146.
The Tatler (1711–1714)

Nature , Suffering , Evil

“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)

Nature , Heart

“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

Truth , Nature , Sense

“Nature does nothing without purpose or uselessly.”

Joseph Addison book Cato

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

Nature

“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 book Cato

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

Nature

“Men may change their climate, but they cannot change their nature. A man that goes out a fool cannot ride or sail himself into common sense.”

Joseph Addison

No. 93.
The Tatler (1711–1714)