I shall endeavour to enliven Morality with Wit, and to temper Wit with Morality, that my Readers may, if possible, both Ways… — Joseph Addison Copy Share Image
The only way therefore to try a Piece of Wit, is to translate it into a different Language: If it bears the… — Joseph Addison Copy Share Image
Cunning is only the mimic of discretion, and may pass upon weak men in the same manner as vivacity is often mistaken… — Joseph Addison Copy Share Image
A cheerful temper, joined with innocence will make beauty attractive, knowledge delightful, and wit good-natured. — Joseph Addison Copy Share Image
There is nothing that more betrays a base ungenerous spirit than the giving of secret stabs to a man's reputation. Lampoons and… — Joseph Addison Copy Share Image
Good nature is more agreeable in conversation than wit and gives a certain air to the countenance which is more amiable than… — Joseph Addison Copy Share Image
I shall endeavor to enliven morality with wit, and to temper wit with morality. — Joseph Addison Copy Share Image
Hudibras has defined nonsense, as Cowley does wit, by negatives. Nonsense, he says, is that which is neither true nor false. These… — Joseph Addison Copy Share Image
When I read the epitaphs of the beautiful, every inordinate desire goes out; when I meet with the grief of parents upon… — Joseph Addison Copy Share Image
It generally takes its rise either from an ill-will to mankind, a private inclination to make ourselves esteemed, an ostentation of wit,… — Joseph Addison Copy Share Image
In all thy humours, whether grave or mellow, Thou'rt such a touchy, testy, pleasant fellow, Hast so much wit and mirth and… — Joseph Addison Copy Share Image
There is no kind of false wit which has been so recommended by the practice of all ages, as that which consists… — Joseph Addison Copy Share Image
Half the misery of human life might be extinguished if men would alleviate the general curse they lie under by mutual offices of compassion,… — Joseph Addison Copy Share Image
Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal… — Joseph Addison Copy Share Image
There is nothing touches our imagination so much as a beautiful woman in a plain dress. — Joseph Addison Copy Share Image
We are always doing something for posterity, but I would fain see posterity do something for us. — Joseph Addison Copy Share Image
Female Virtues are of a Domestick turn. The Family is the proper Province for Private Women to Shine in. If they must be showing… — Joseph Addison Copy Share Image
As addictions go, reading is among the cleanest, easiest to feed, happiest. — Joseph Addison Copy Share Image
There is no society or conversation to be kept up in the world without good-nature, or something which must bear its appearance and supply… — Joseph Addison Copy Share Image
When love once pleads admission to our hearts, In spite of all the virtue we can boast, The woman that deliberates is lost. — Joseph Addison Copy Share Image
Many actions calculated to procure fame are not conducive to ultimate happiness. — Joseph Addison Copy Share Image
T is liberty crowns Britannia's Isle, And makes her barren rocks and her bleak mountains smile. — Joseph Addison Copy Share Image
The moral perfections of the Deity, the more attentively, we consider, the more perfectly still shall we know them. — Joseph Addison Copy Share Image
