Supposing all the great points of atheism were formed into a kind of creed, I would fain ask whether it would not require an infinite greater measure of faith than any set of articles which they so violently oppose. Joseph Addison More Quotes by Joseph Addison More Quotes From Joseph Addison Colors speak all languages. Joseph Addison color language speak Quick sensitivity is inseperable from a ready understanding. Joseph Addison sensitivity ready understanding There is nothing which we receive with so much reluctance as advice. Joseph Addison good-advice literature advice Modesty is not only an ornament, but also a guard to virtue. Joseph Addison ornaments modesty literature A just and reasonable modesty does not only recommend eloquence, but sets off every great talent which a man can be possessed of. Joseph Addison pride humility men Of all the diversions of life, there is none so proper to fill up its empty spaces as the reading of useful and entertaining authors. Joseph Addison reading life book The utmost extent of man's knowledge, is to know that he knows nothing. Joseph Addison literature men knowledge 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 invisible mind water A contented mind is the greatest blessing a man can enjoy in this world; and if in the present life his happiness arises from the subduing of his desires, it will arise in the next from the gratification of them. Joseph Addison blessing mind men Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Joseph Addison haughtiness pride fall 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 hope dream life Most of the trades, professions, and ways of living among mankind, take their original either from the love of the pleasure, or the fear of want. The former, when it becomes too violent, degenerates into luxury, and the latter into avarice. Joseph Addison luxury work way Laughter, while it lasts, slackens and unbraces the mind, weakens the faculties, and causes a kind of remissness and dissolution in all the powers of the soul. Joseph Addison laughter soul mind Animals, in their generation, are wiser than the sons of men; but their wisdom is confined to a few particulars, and lies in a very narrow compass. Joseph Addison wisdom lying son There is not a more unhappy being than a superannuated idol. Joseph Addison unhappy literature idols Honor's a fine imaginary notion, that draws in raw and unexperienced men to real mischiefs. Joseph Addison real honor men 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 passion grief love Young men soon give, and soon forget, affronts; old age is slow in both. Joseph Addison 50th-birthday giving men Among all kinds of Writing, there is none in which Authors are more apt to miscarry than in Works of Humour, as there is none in which they are more ambitious to excel. Joseph Addison ambitious literature writing 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. Joseph Addison ill-will vanity mind