Content thyself to be obscurely good. Joseph Addison More Quotes by Joseph Addison More Quotes From Joseph Addison It has been said in praise of some men, that they could take whole hours together upon anything; but it must be owned to the honor of the other sex that there are many among them who can talk whole hours together upon nothing. I have known a woman branch out into a long extempore dissertation on the edging of a petticoat, and chide her servant for breaking a china cup, in all the figures of rhetoric. Joseph Addison talking men sex The soul, considered with its Creator, is like one of those mathematical lines that may draw nearer to another for all eternity without a possibility of touching it; and can there be a thought so transporting as to consider ourselves in these perpetual approaches to Him, who is not only the standard of perfection, but of happiness? Joseph Addison touching soul perfection T is the Divinity that stirs within us. Joseph Addison divinity soul Religion prescribes to every miserable man the means of bettering his condition; nay, it shows him that the bearing of his afflictions as he ought to do, will naturally end in the removal of them. Joseph Addison sorrow men mean Nothing is capable of being well set to music that is not nonsense. Joseph Addison nonsense wells music Mere bashfulness without merit is awkwardness. Joseph Addison confidence awkward literature Mirth is like a flash of lightning, that breaks through a gloom of clouds, and glitters for a moment; cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind, and fills it with a steady and perpetual serenity. Joseph Addison break-through serenity clouds To say that authority, whether secular or religious, supplies no ground for morality is not to deny the obvious fact that it supplies a sanction. Joseph Addison religious facts religion There is not so variable a thing in nature as a lady's head-dress. Joseph Addison fashion nature dresses It is always to be understood that a lady takes all you detract from the rest of her sex to be a gift to her. Joseph Addison slander understood sex There is nobody so weak of invention that cannot make some little stories to villify his enemy. Joseph Addison stories littles enemy There is a sort of economy in Providence that one shall excel where another is defective, in order to make men more useful to each other, and mix them in society. Joseph Addison society men order Nothing lies on our hands with such uneasiness as time. Wretched and thoughtless creatures! In the only place where covetousness were a virtue we turn prodigals. Joseph Addison time lying hands Others proclaim the infirmities of a great man with satisfaction and complacence, if they discover none of the like in themselves. Joseph Addison infirmity satisfaction men 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 disposition gold fortune When I behold a fashionable table set out in all its magnificence, I fancy that I see gouts and dropsies, fevers and lethargies, with other innumerable distempers lying in ambuscade among the dishes. Nature delights in the most plain and simple diet. Every animal but man keeps to one dish. Herbs are the food of this species, fish of that, and flesh of a third. Man falls upon everything that comes in his way; not the smallest fruit or excrescence of the earth, scarce a berry or a mushroom can escape him. Joseph Addison science lying fall Certain is it that there is no kind of affection so purely angelic as of a father to a daughter. Joseph Addison daughter thank-you children 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. Joseph Addison justice men country There is not a more pleasante exercise of the mind than gratitude. Joseph Addison gratitude exercise thank-you The circumstance which gives authors an advantage above all these great masters, is this, that they can multiply their originals; or rather, can make copies of their works, to what number they please, which shall be as valuable as the originals themselves. Joseph Addison advantage numbers giving
