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Cunning is only the mimic of discretion, and may pass upon weak men in the same manner as vivacity is often mistaken for wit, and gravity for wisdom.
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
Manner
Pass
Vivacity
Weak
Mimic
Wisdom
Discretion
Upon
Cunning
Often
Mistaken
May
Gravity
Men
Wit
More quotes by Joseph Addison
What I spent I lost what I possessed is left to others what I gave away remains with me.
Joseph Addison
I should think myself a very bad woman, if I had done what I do for a farthing less.
Joseph Addison
To be perfectly just is an attribute of the divine nature to be so to the utmost of our abilities, is the glory of man.
Joseph Addison
There is no passion that is not finely expressed in those parts of the inspired writings which are proper for divine songs and anthems.
Joseph Addison
Honour's a sacred tie, the law of kings, The noble mind's distinguishing perfection That aids and strengthens virtue where it meets her And imitates her actions where she is not: It is not to be sported with.
Joseph Addison
A good disposition is more valuable than gold, for the latter is the gift of fortune, but the former is the dower of nature.
Joseph Addison
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
Fame is a good so wholly foreign to our natures that we have no faculty in the soul adapted to it, nor any organ in the body to relish it an object of desire placed out of the possibility of fruition.
Joseph Addison
Who does not more admire Cicero as an author than as a consul of Rome?
Joseph Addison
Guard thy heart on this weak side, where most our nature fails.
Joseph Addison
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
He who would pass his declining years with honor and comfort, should, when young, consider that he may one day become old, and remember when he is old, that he has once been young.
Joseph Addison
The greatest sweetener of human life is Friendship. To raise this to the highest pitch of enjoyment, is a secret which but few discover.
Joseph Addison
I consider an human soul without education like marble in the quarry, which shows none of its inherent beauties till the skill of the polisher fetches out the colours, makes the surface shine, and discovers every ornamental cloud, spot and vein that runs through the body of it.
Joseph Addison
We have in England a particular bashfulness in every thing that regards religion.
Joseph Addison
Some virtues are only seen in affliction and others only in prosperity.
Joseph Addison
What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure but scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable.
Joseph Addison
It is impossible for us, who live in the latter ages of the world, to make observations in criticism, morality, or in any art or science, which have not been touched upon by others. We have little else left us but to represent the common sense of mankind in more strong, more beautiful, or more uncommon lights.
Joseph Addison
It is easier for an artful Man, who is not in Love, to persuade his Mistress he has a Passion for her, and to succeed in his Pursuits, than for one who loves with the greatest Violence. True Love hath ten thousand Griefs, Impatiencies and Resentments, that render a Man unamiable in the Eyes of the Person whose Affection he sollicits.
Joseph Addison
See in what peace a Christian can die.
Joseph Addison
