Joseph Addison Quotes

334 quotes in 3353 categories

• Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.
• Sunday clears away the rust of the whole week.
• Our real blessings often appear to us in the shape of pains, losses and disappointments; but let us have patience and we soon shall see…
• Cheerfulness is the best promoter of health and is as friendly to the mind as to the body.
• Man is subject to innumerable pains and sorrows by the very condition of humanity, and yet, as if nature had not sown evils enough in…
• If you wish to succeed in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counselor, caution your elder brother, and hope your guardian genius.
• Everything that is new or uncommon raises a pleasure in the imagination, because it fills the soul with an agreeable surprise, gratifies its curiosity, and…
• To be an atheist requires an indefinitely greater measure of faith than to recieve all the great truths which atheism would deny.
• A contented mind is the greatest blessing a man can enjoy in this world.
• It is only imperfection that complains of what is imperfect. The more perfect we are the more gentle and quiet we become towards the defects…
• The greatest sweetener of human life is Friendship. To raise this to the highest pitch of enjoyment, is a secret which but few discover.
• True happiness arises, in the first place, from the enjoyment of one's self, and in the next, from the friendship and conversation of a few…
• Mysterious love, uncertain treasure, hast thou more of pain or pleasure! Endless torments dwell about thee: Yet who would live, and live without thee!
• A cloudy day or a little sunshine have as great an influence on many constitutions as the most recent blessings or misfortunes.
• What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but scattered along life's pathway, the good they do…
• A man should always consider how much he has more than he wants.
• Men may change their climate, but they cannot change their nature. A man that goes out a fool cannot ride or sail himself into common…
• No oppression is so heavy or lasting as that which is inflicted by the perversion and exorbitance of legal authority.
• A man must be both stupid and uncharitable who believes there is no virtue or truth but on his own side.
• What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the soul.

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