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If men, who in their hearts are friends to a government, forbear giving it their utmost assistance against its enemies, they put it in the power of a few desperate men to ruin the welfare of those who are much superior to them in strength, number, and interest.

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
Giving
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Ruin
Heart
Strength
Superior
Much
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Men
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Welfare
Utmost
Government
Hearts
Assistance

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Must one rash word, the infirmity of age, throw down the merit of my better years?
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It generally takes its rise either from an ill-will to mankind, a private inclination to make ourselves esteemed, an ostentation of wit, and vanity of being thought in the secrets of the world or from a desire of gratifying any of these dispositions of mind in those persons with whom we converse.
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The first race of mankind used to dispute, as our ordinary people do now-a-days, in a kind of wild logic, uncultivated by rule of art.
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It is folly to seek the approbation of any being besides the Supreme.
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It is wonderful to see persons of sense passing away a dozen hours together in shuffling and dividing a pack of cards.
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It is ridiculous for any man to criticize on the works of another, who has not distinguished himself by his own performances.
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Is it not wonderful, that the love of the parent should be so violent while it lasts and that it should last no longer than is necessary for the preservation of the young?
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Artificial intelligence will never be a match for natural stupidity.
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My voice is still for war. Gods! can a Roman senate long debate Which of the two to choose, slavery or death?
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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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Whilst I yet live, let me not live in vain.
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A great large book is a great evil.
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Arguments out of a pretty mouth are unanswerable.
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If there's a power above us, (And that there is all nature cries aloud Through all her works,) he must delight in virtue.
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That courage which arises from the sense of our duty, and from the fear of offending Him that made us, acts always in a uniform manner, and according to the dictates of right reason.
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I think a Person who is thus terrified with the Imagination of Ghosts and Spectres much more reasonable, than one who contrary to the Reports of all Historians sacred and profane, ancient and modern, and to the Traditions of all Nations, thinks the Appearance of Spirits fabulous and groundless.
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The spacious firmament on high, And all the blue ethereal sky, And spangled heavens, a shining frame, Their great Original proclaim.
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Books are the legacies that a great genius leaves to mankind
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A man should always consider how much he has more than he wants.
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From social intercourse are derived some of the highest enjoyments of life where there is a free interchange of sentiments the mind acquires new ideas, and by frequent exercise of its powers, the understanding gains fresh vigor.
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