Quotes from Joseph Addison

What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the human soul.

Admiration is a very short-lived passion that immediately decays upon growing familiar with its object, unless it be still fed with fresh discoveries, and kept alive by a new perpetual succession of miracles rising up to its view.

And pleas'd th' Almighty's orders to perform, Rides in the whirlwind and directs the storm.

There is no virtue so truly great and godlike as justice.

The greatest reformation should be among those who have been the greatest sinners.

Thy father's merit sets thee up to view, And shows thee in the fairest point of light, To make thy virtues, or thy faults, conspicuous.

Title and ancestry render a good man more illustrious, but an ill one more contemptible.

Men who profess a state of neutrality in times of public danger, desert the common interest of their fellow subjects; and act with independence to that constitution into which they are incorporated. The safety of the whole requires our joint endeavours. When this is at stake, the indifferent are not properly a part of the community; or rather are like dead limbs, which are an encumbrance to the body, instead of being of use to it.

When I consider the question, whether there are such persons in the world as those we call witches? my mind is divided between the two opposite opinions; or rather (to speak my thoughts freely) I believe in general that there is, and has been such a thing as witchcraft; but at the same time can give no credit to any particular instance of it.

When all thy mercies, O my God, My rising soul surveys, Transported with the view I'm lost, In wonder, love and praise.

A true critic ought to dwell rather upon excellencies than imperfections, to discover the concealed beauties of a writer, and communicate to the world such things as are worth their observation.

Health and cheerfulness mutually beget each other.

Music religious heat inspires / It wakes the soul, and lifts it high / And wings it with sublime desires / And fits it to bespeak the Deity.

The friendships of the world are oft confederacies in vice, or leagues of pleasure.

A just and reasonable modesty does not only recommend eloquence, but sets off every great talent which a man can be possessed of. It heightens all the virtues which it accompanies; like the shades in paintings, it raises and rounds every figure, and makes the colours more beautiful, though not so glaring as they would be without it.

Good nature is more agreeable in conversation than wit, and gives a certain air to the countenance which is more amiable than beauty.

It is the duty of all who make philosophy the entertainment of their lives, to turn their thoughts to practical schemes for the good of society, and not pass away their time in fruitless searches, which tend rather to the ostentation of knowledge than the service of life.

Nations with nations mix'd confus'dly die, and lost in one promiscuous carnage lie.

The honors of this world, what are they but puff, and emptiness, and peril of falling?

There is no greater sign of a general decay of virtue in a nation, than a want of zeal in its inhabitants for the good of their country.

Take a brute out of his instinct, and you find him wholly deprived of understanding.

It is ridiculous for any man to criticize on the works of another, who has not distinguished himself by his own performances.

'Tis pride, rank pride, and haughtiness of soul: I think the Romans call it Stoicism.

The soul, secured in her existence, smiles at the drawn dagger, and defies its point.