Quotes from book
Cato

Cato
Joseph Addison Original title Caton, tragédie par M. Addison ; traduite de l'anglois par Mr Abel Boyer (French, 1713)
Joseph Addison photo

“The honors of this world, what are they
But puff, and emptiness, and peril of falling?”

Joseph Addison book Cato

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

Joseph Addison photo

“Eternity! thou pleasing dreadful thought!
Through what variety of untried being,
Through what new scenes and changes must we pass!”

Joseph Addison book Cato

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

Joseph Addison photo

“Perhaps some arm, more lucky than the rest,
May reach his heart, and free the world from bondage.”

Joseph Addison book Cato

Act II, scene i.
Cato, A Tragedy (1713)
Context: My voice is still for war.
Gods! Can a Roman senate long debate
Which of the two to choose, slavery or death?
No, let us rise at once,
Gird on our swords, and,
At the head of our remaining troops, attack the foe,
Break through the thick array of his throng'd legions,
And charge home upon him.
Perhaps some arm, more lucky than the rest,
May reach his heart, and free the world from bondage.

Joseph Addison photo

“Eternity! thou pleasing dreadful thought!
Through what variety of untried being,
Through what new scenes and changes must we pass!”

Joseph Addison book Cato

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

Joseph Addison photo

“How beautiful is death, when earn'd by virtue!
Who would not be that youth? What pity is it
That we can die but once to serve our country!”

Joseph Addison book Cato

Act IV, scene iv
Cato, A Tragedy (1713)

Joseph Addison photo

“See they suffer death,
But in their deaths remember they are men,
Strain not the laws to make their tortures grievous.”

Joseph Addison book Cato

Act III, scene v
Cato, A Tragedy (1713)