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Were not this desire of fame very strong, the difficulty of obtaining it, and the danger of losing it when obtained, would be sufficient to deter a man from so vain a pursuit.

Joseph Addison

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Joseph Addison
Age: 47 †
Born: 1672
Born: May 1
Died: 1719
Died: June 17
Editor
Essayist
Journalist
Librettist
Playwright
Poet
Politician
Writer
Milston
Wiltshire
Joseph Addisson
Right Hon. Joseph Addison
Danger
Obtaining
Desire
Obtained
Strong
Sufficient
Would
Vain
Men
Pursuit
Difficulty
Fame
Losing
Deter

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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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The fear of death often proves mortal, and sets people on methods to save their Lives, which infallibly destroy them.
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Government mitigates the inequality of power, and makes an innocent man, though of the lowest rank, a match for the mightiest of his fellow-subjects.
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Whilst I yet live, let me not live in vain.
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I always rejoice when I see a tribunal filled with a man of an upright and inflexible temper, who in the execution of his country's laws can overcome all private fear, resentment, solicitation, and even pity itself.
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There is no kind of false wit which has been so recommended by the practice of all ages, as that which consists in a jingle of words, and is comprehended under the general name of punning.
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To be exempt from the passions with which others are tormented, is the only pleasing solitude.
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A jealous man is very quick in his application: he knows how to find a double edge in an invective, and to draw a satire on himself out of a panegyrick on another.
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Good nature is more agreeable in conversation than wit and gives a certain air to the countenance which is more amiable than beauty.
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When a man has been guilty of any vice or folly, the best atonement he can make for it is to warn others not to fall into the like.
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The end of a man's life is often compared to the winding up of a well written play, where the principal persons still act in character, whatever the fate in which they undergo.
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Beauty soon grows familiar to the lover, Fades in his eye, and palls upon the sense.
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I never knew a critic who made it his business to lash the faults of other writers that was not guilty of greater himself--as the hangman is generally a worse malefactor than the criminal that suffers by his hand.
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Music can noble hints impart, Engender fury, kindle love, With unsuspected eloquence can move, And manage all the man with secret art.
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Guard thy heart on this weak side, where most our nature fails.
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See in what peace a Christian can die.
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The stars shall fade away, the sun himself Grow dim with age, and nature sink in years, But thou shalt flourish in immortal youth, Unhurt amidst the wars of elements, The wrecks of matter, and the crush of worlds.
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Rides in the whirlwind and directs the storm.
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What an absurd thing it is to pass over all the valuable parts of a man, and fix our attention on his infirmities.
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I have often wondered that learning is not thought a proper ingredient in the education of a woman of quality or fortune. Since they have the same improvable minds as the male part of their species.
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