“Great Pompey's shade complains that we are slow,
And Scipio's ghost walks unavenged amongst us!”
Joseph Addison book Cato
Act II, scene i.
Cato, A Tragedy (1713)
Quotes from bookCato
Joseph AddisonOriginal title Caton, tragédie par M. Addison ; traduite de l'anglois par Mr Abel Boyer (French, 1713)
“Nature does nothing without purpose or uselessly.”
Joseph Addison book Cato
Act V, scene i.
Cato, A Tragedy (1713)
“Talk not of love: thou never knew'st its force.”
Joseph Addison book Cato
Act III, scene ii.
Cato, A Tragedy (1713)
“Tis pride, rank pride, and haughtiness of soul:
I think the Romans call it Stoicism.”
Joseph Addison book Cato
Act I, scene iv.
Cato, A Tragedy (1713)
“Tis not in mortals to command success,
But we'll do more, Sempronius; we'll deserve it.”
Joseph Addison book Cato
Act I, scene ii.
Cato, A Tragedy (1713)
“I will indulge my sorrows, and give way
To all the pangs and fury of despair.”
Joseph Addison book Cato
Act IV, scene iii.
Cato, A Tragedy (1713)
“From hence, let fierce contending nations know,
What dire effects from civil discord flow.”
Joseph Addison book Cato
Act V, scene iv.
Cato, A Tragedy (1713)
“Beauty soon grows familiar to the lover,
Fades in his eye, and palls upon the sense.”
Joseph Addison book Cato
Act I, scene iv.
Cato, A Tragedy (1713)
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.
“Curse on his virtues! they've undone his country.”
Joseph Addison book Cato
Act IV, scene iv.
Cato, A Tragedy (1713)
“Why wilt thou add to all the griefs I suffer
Imaginary ills, and fancy'd tortures?”
Joseph Addison book Cato
Act IV, scene i.
Cato, A Tragedy (1713)
