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
grave living mirth nor pleasant thee thy whether wit
In all thy humors, whether grave or mellow, Thou'rt such a touchy, testy, pleasant fellow, hast so much wit and mirth and spleen about thee, there is no living with thee, nor without thee
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The great number of the Jews furnishes us with a sufficient cloud of witnesses that attest the truth of the Bible.
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Wit is the fetching of congruity out of incongruity.
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The discreet man finds out the talents of those he converses with, and knows how to apply them to proper uses. Accordingly, if we look into particular communities and divisions of men, we may observe that it is the discreet man, not the witty, nor the learned, nor the brave, who guides the conversation, and gives measures to the society.
witty men thinking
It is a melancholy consideration that there should be several among us so hardened and deluded as to think an oath a proper subject for a jest; and to make this, which is one of the most solemn acts of religion, an occasion of mirth. Yet such is the depravation of our manners at present, that nothing is more frequent than to hear profligate men ridiculing, to the best of their abilities, these sacred pledges of their duty and allegiance; and endeavouring to be witty upon themselves, for daring to prevaricate with God and man.
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Words, when well chosen, have so great a force in them that a description often gives us more lively ideas than the sight of things themselves
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Through all eternity to thee, a joyful song I'll raise; for oh! Eternity's too short to utter all thy praise.
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Marriage enlarges the scene of our happiness and of our miseries. A marriage of love is pleasant, of interest, easy, and where both meet, happy. A happy marriage has in it all the pleasures of friendship, all the enjoyments of sense and reason, and,
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Method is not less requisite in conversation than in writing, provided a man would talk to make himself understood
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I remember when our whole island was shaken with an earthquake some years ago, there was an impudent mountebank who sold pills which (as he told the country people) were very good against an earthquake.
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We are growing serious, and let me tell you, that's the very next step to being dull
growing next step
We are growing serious, and let me tell you, that's the next step to being dull.
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Those Marriages generally abound most with Love and Constancy that are preceded by a long Courtship.
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True happiness is of a retired nature, and an enemy to pomp and noise