“When love once pleas admission to our hearts,
(In spite of all the virtue we can boast),
The woman that deliberates is lost.”

—  Joseph Addison , book Cato

Cato, A Tragedy (1713)
Variant: "When love once pleads admission to our hearts..."

Act IV, scene i. The last line has often been misreported as "He who hesitates is lost", a sentiment inspired by it but not penned by Addison. See Paul F. Boller, Jr., and John George, They Never Said It: A Book of Fake Quotes, Misquotes, & Misleading Attributions (1989), p. 3.

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Joseph Addison photo
Joseph Addison 226
politician, writer and playwright 1672–1719

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