Sir Francis Bacon observed that a well-written book, compared with its rivals and antagonists, is like Moses' serpent, that immediately swallowed up… — 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
Simonides, a poet famous in his generation, is, I think, author of the oldest satire that is now extant, and, as some… — Joseph Addison Copy Share Image
Plutarch has written an essay on the benefits which a man may receive from his enemies; and among the good fruits of… — Joseph Addison Copy Share Image
There are greater depths and obscurities, greater intricacies and perplexities, in an elaborate and well-written piece of nonsense, than in the most… — Joseph Addison Copy Share Image
The end of a man's life is often compared to the winding up of a well written play, where the principal persons… — Joseph Addison Copy Share Image
When I read the rules of criticism, I immediately inquire after the works of the author who has written them, and by… — 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
