Joseph Addison
Joseph Addison
Joseph Addisonwas an English essayist, poet, playwright, and politician. He was the eldest son of The Reverend Lancelot Addison. His name is usually remembered alongside that of his long-standing friend, Richard Steele, with whom he founded The Spectator magazine...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth1 May 1672
heart pride men
Riches expose a man to pride and luxury, and a foolish elation of heart.
pride men arrogance
Riches are apt to betray a man into arrogance.
giving mind religion
True religion and virtue give a cheerful and happy turn to the mind, admit of all true pleasures, and even procure for us the highest.
circles religion enough
Religion contracts the circle of our pleasures, but leaves it wide enough for her votaries to expatiate in.
years age merit
Must one rash word, the infirmity of age, throw down the merit of my better years?
religious passion thinking
Every one knows the veneration which was paid by the Jews to a name so great, wonderful, and holy. They would not let it enter even into their religious discourses. What can we then think of those who make use of so tremendous a name, in the ordinary expression of their anger, mirth, and most impertinent passions?
sleep pride gone
The pride of woman, natural to her, never sleeps until modesty is gone.
sex passion desire
The passion for praise, which is so very vehement in the fair sex, produces excellent effects in women of sense, who desire to be admired for that which only deserves admiration.
generous-spirit despair cows
Poverty palls the most generous spirits; it cows industry, and casts resolution itself into despair.
eye passion men
Every passion gives a particular cast to the countenance, and is apt to discover itself in some feature or other. I have seen an eye curse for half an hour together, and an eyebrow call a man a scoundrel.
fall men perfection
How can it enter into the thoughts of man, that the soul, which is capable of such immense perfections, and of receiving new improvements to all eternity, shall fall away into nothing almost as soon as it is created?
giving
Health and happiness give rise to each other.
innocent-person enemy tragedy
The English Writers of Tragedy are possessed with a Notion, that when they represent a virtuous or innocent Person in Distress, they ought not to leave him till they have delivered him out of his Troubles, or made him triumph over his Enemies.
successful men evil
We find that Good and Evil happen alike to all Men on this Side of the Grave; and as the principle Design of Tragedy is to raise Commiseration and Terror in the Minds of the Audience, we shall defeat this great End, if we always make Virtue and Innocence happy and successful.