I Have often thought if the minds of men were laid open, we should see but little difference between that of the wise man and that of the fool.
JOSEPH ADDISONMan is subject to innumerable pains and sorrows by the very condition of humanity, and yet, as if nature had not sown evils enough in life, we are continually adding grief to grief and aggravating the common calamity by our cruel treatment of one another.
More Joseph Addison Quotes
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Nothing is more gratifying to the mind of man than power or dominion.
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Silence is sometimes more significant and sublime than the most noble and most expressive eloquence, and is on many occasions the indication of a great mind.
JOSEPH ADDISON -
When I read the epitaphs of the beautiful, every inordinate desire goes out; when I meet with the grief of parents upon a tombstone, my heart melts with compassion; when I see the tomb of the parents themselves,
JOSEPH ADDISON -
A true critic ought to dwell rather upon excellencies than imperfections
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The voice of reason is more to be regarded than the bent of any present inclination; since inclination will at length come over to reason, though we can never force reason to comply with inclination.
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 -
A wealthy doctor who can help a poor man, and will not without a fee, has less sense of humanity than a poor ruffian, who kills a rich man to supply his necessities.
JOSEPH ADDISON -
Jealousy is that pain which a man feels from the apprehension that he is not equally beloved by the person whom he entirely loves.
JOSEPH ADDISON -
It is not the business of virtue to extirpate the affections of the mind, but to regulate them.
JOSEPH ADDISON -
No oppression is so heavy or lasting as that which is inflicted by the perversion and exorbitance of legal authority.
JOSEPH ADDISON -
If we hope for what we are not likely to possess, we act and think in vain, and make life a greater dream and shadow than it really is.
JOSEPH ADDISON -
A solid and substantial greatness of soul looks down with neglect on the censures and applauses of the multitude.
JOSEPH ADDISON -
No one is more cherished in this world than someone who lightens the burden of another. Thank you.
JOSEPH ADDISON -
Knowledge is, indeed, that which, next to virtue, truly and essentially raises one man above another.
JOSEPH ADDISON -
Nothing that isn’t a real crime makes a man appear so contemptible and little in the eyes of the world as inconsistency.
JOSEPH ADDISON -
The friendships of the world are oft confederacies in vice, or leagues of pleasures.
JOSEPH ADDISON -
If men of eminence are exposed to censure on one hand, they are as much liable to flattery on the other. If they receive reproaches which are not due to them, they likewise receive praises which they do not deserve.
JOSEPH ADDISON -
If men would consider not so much wherein they differ, as wherein they agree, there would be far less of uncharitableness and angry feeling in the world.
JOSEPH ADDISON -
Men may change their climate, but they cannot change their nature. A man that goes out a fool cannot ride or sail himself into common sense.
JOSEPH ADDISON -
There is no virtue so truly great and godlike as justice.
JOSEPH ADDISON -
I reflect with sorrow and astonishment on the little competitions, factions, and debates of mankind.
JOSEPH ADDISON -
Young men soon give, and soon forget, affronts; old age is slow in both.
JOSEPH ADDISON -
Temperance gives nature her full play, and enables her to exert herself in all her force and vigor.
JOSEPH ADDISON -
I never knew an early-rising, hard-working, prudent man, careful of his earnings and strictly honest, who complained of hard luck.
JOSEPH ADDISON -
Soon as the evening shades prevail, The moon takes up the wondrous tale, And nightly to the listening earth Repeats the story of her birth.
JOSEPH ADDISON -
Our disputants put me in mind of the cuttlefish that, when he is unable to extricate himself, blackens the water about him till he becomes invisible.
JOSEPH ADDISON