Joseph Addison was an 18th-century English essayist, poet, playwright, and politician. He is best known for his periodical essays in The Spectator and for the comic play The Drummer. He was also a co-founder of the Whig party and Secretary of State for the Southern Department in Queen Anne's government.
What is the most famous quote by Joseph Addison ?
The greatest sweetener of human life is friendship.
— Joseph Addison
What can you learn from Joseph Addison (Life Lessons)
- Joseph Addison taught that life should be lived with purpose and intention, and that it is important to take time to appreciate the beauty of the world around us.
- He also believed that it is essential to be honest and true to oneself, and that it is important to strive for excellence in all that we do.
- Finally, Addison encouraged us to be generous and kind to others, and to always strive to make the world a better place.
The most genuine Joseph Addison quotes that will activate your desire to change
Following is a list of the best quotes, including various Joseph Addison inspirational quotes, and other famous sayings by Joseph Addison.
If you wish to succeed in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counselor, caution your elder brother, and hope your guardian genius.
Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.
Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.
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.
Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness.
It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.
I value my garden more for being full of blackbirds than of cherries, and very frankly give them fruit for their songs.
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.
Cheerfulness is the best promoter of health and is as friendly to the mind as to the body.
Sunday clears away the rust of the whole week.
Satirical quotes by Joseph Addison
Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.
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.
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.
Though we seem grieved at the shortness of life in general, we are wishing every period of it at an end. The minor longs to be at age, then to be a man of business, then to make up an estate, then to arrive at honors, then to retire.
Every passion gives a particular cast to the countenance, and is apt to discover itself in some feature or other. I have seen an eye curse for half an hour together, and an eyebrow call a man a scoundrel.
Ridicule is generally made use of to laugh men out of virtue and good sense, by attacking everything praiseworthy in human life.
A man should always consider how much he has more than he wants.
In all thy humours, 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.
Quotations by Joseph Addison that are refined and erudite
No one is more cherished in this world than someone who lightens the burden of another. Thank you.
The dawn is overcast, the morning lowers, And heavily in clouds brings on the day, The great, the important day, big with the fate Of Cato and of Rome.
Jesters do often prove prophets.
T is liberty crowns Britannia's Isle, And makes her barren rocks and her bleak mountains smile.
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.
A day, an hour, of virtuous liberty Is worth a whole eternity in bondage.
The greatest sweetener of human life is Friendship. To raise this to the highest pitch of enjoyment, is a secret which but few discover.
Their is no defense against criticism except obscurity.
The spacious firmament on high, And all the blue ethereal sky, And spangled heavens, a shining frame, Their great Original proclaim.
Love is a second life; it grows into the soul, warms every vein, and beats in every pulse.
Our real blessings often appear to us in the shape of pains, losses and disappointments; but let us have patience and we soon shall see them in their proper figures.
Friendship improves happiness, and abates misery, by doubling our joys, and dividing our grief.
Allegories, when well chosen, are like so many tracks of light in a discourse, that make everything about them clear and beautiful.
A cloudy day or a little sunshine have as great an influence on many constitutions as the most recent blessings or misfortunes.
Cleanliness may be defined to be the emblem of purity of mind.
Loveliest of women! heaven is in thy soul, Beauty and virtue shine forever round thee, Bright'ning each other! thou art all divine!
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.
All well-regulated families set apart an hour every morning for tea and bread and butter
An ostentatious man will rather relate a blunder or an absurdity he has committed, than be debarred from talking of his own dear person.
Certain is it that there is no kind of affection so purely angelic as of a father to a daughter.
When men are easy in their circumstances, they are naturally enemies to innovations.
A contented mind is the greatest blessing a man can enjoy in this world.
Music, the greatest good that mortals know and all of heaven we have hear below.
True benevolence or compassion, extends itself through the whole of existence and sympathizes with the distress of every creature capable of sensation.
A man’s first care should be to avoid the reproaches of his own heart.
How is it possible for those who are men of honor in their persons, thus to become notorious liars in their party
Justice is that which is practiced by God himself, and to be practiced in its perfection by none but him. Omniscience and omnipotence are requisite for the full exertion of it.
A man who has any relish for fine writing either discovers new beauties or receives stronger impressions from the masterly strokes of a great author every time he peruses him; besides that he naturally wears himself into the same manner of speaking and thinking.
If you wish success in life, make perseverance your bosom friend.
There is not a more pleasing exercise of the mind than gratitude. It is accompanied with such an inward satisfaction that the duty is sufficiently rewarded by the performance
When all thy mercies, O my God, My rising soul surveys, Transported with the view I'm lost, in wonder, love and praise.
Nothing is more gratifying to the mind of man than power or dominion.
There is nothing which we receive with so much reluctance as advice.