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
perfection ornaments charity
Charity is the perfection and ornament of religion.
rome doe admire
Who does not more admire Cicero as an author than as a consul of Rome?
disappointment grief contentment
The utmost we can hope for in this world is contentment; if we aim at anything higher, we shall meet with nothing but grief and disappointment. A man should direct all his studies and endeavors at making himself easy now and happy hereafter.
kings prayer war
'Tis Liberty that crowns Britannia's isle, and makes her barren rocks and her bleak mountains smile... 'Tis Britain's care to watch o'er Europe's fate, and hold in balance each contending state, To threaten bold presumptuous kings with war, and answer her afflicted neighbours' prayer... Soon as her fleets appear their terrors cease.
faults
Our friends don't see our faults, or conceal them, or soften them.
heart reflection knights
The Knight in the triumph of his heart made several 6 reflections on thegreatness 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 theThames was thenoblest river in Europe; that London Bridge was a greater piece of work than any of the Seven Wonders of the World; with many other honest prejudices which naturally cleave to the heart of a true Englishman.
force
Talk not of love: thou never knew'st its force.
fall character passion
It is indeed very possible, that the Persons we laugh at may in the main of their Characters be much wiser Men than our selves; but if they would have us laugh at them, they must fall short of us in those Respects which stir up this Passion.
england particular regard
We have in England a particular bashfulness in every thing that regards religion.
country messages world
A few persons of an odious and despised country could not have filled the world with believers, had they not shown undoubted credentials from the divine person who sent them on such a message.
perfect tragedy human-nature
A perfect tragedy is the noblest production of human nature.
drama men fool
Nature in her whole drama never drew such a part; she has sometimes made a fool, but a coxcomb is always of a man's own making...
shoes standing rounds
Round-heads and Wooden-shoes are standing jokes.
men thinking hunting
Hunting is not a proper employment for a thinking man.