--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Persons in great stations have seldom…" description: "\"Persons in great stations have seldom their true character drawn till several years after their death. Their personal friendships and enmities must cea..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf6/joseph-addison-377_cease_persons-in-great-stations-have-seldom-th_2620247.png" --- # Persons in great stations have seldom their true character… ![“Persons in great stations have seldom their true character drawn till several years after their death. Their personal friendships and enmities must cease, and the parties they were engaged in be at an end, before their faults or their virtues can have justice done them. When writers have the least…” quote by Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf6/joseph-addison-377_cease_persons-in-great-stations-have-seldom-th_2620247.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf6/joseph-addison-377_cease_persons-in-great-stations-have-seldom-th_2620247.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf6/joseph-addison-377_cease_persons-in-great-stations-have-seldom-th_2620247.png) > “Persons in great stations have seldom their true character drawn till several years after their death. Their personal friendships and enmities must cease, and the parties they were engaged in be at an end, before their faults or their virtues can have justice done them. When writers have the least opportunities of knowing the truth, they are in the best disposition to tell it.” [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People’s true character often only becomes clear after they die, when personal ties fade and their actions can be judged objectively. **In simple terms:** Character is revealed after death when biases disappear. Key Takeaway Seek unbiased perspectives on legacy. Themes character legacy truth Mood reflective analytical Type historical philosophical When to use this quote - biography writing - historical research - legacy planning - ethical journalism Key Concepts historical analysis posthumous judgment Questions to Reflect On - How would you assess a historical figure without personal bias? - What sources best reveal true character? A Different Perspective Biases of contemporaries can still distort truth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Knowing the truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowing-the-truth/) [Opportunity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opportunity/) [Party](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/party/) [True character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/true-character/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I loved the comradeship of the sixties and the seventies, and I still maintain friendships with the people I worked with then - the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/i-loved-the-comradeship-of-the-sixties-and-the-seventies-and-i-still/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [In your friendships and in your enmities let your confidence and your hostilities have certain bounds; make not the former dangerous, nor the latter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-chesterfield/in-your-friendships-and-in-your-enmities-let-your-confidence-and-your/) [Lord Chesterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-chesterfield/) > [Great persons are great because of good, strong foundations on which they were able to build a character…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-armand-montapert/great-persons-are-great-because-of-good-strong-foundations-on-which/) [Alfred Armand Montapert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-armand-montapert/) > [Over half a century working together on multiple issues, Singaporeans and Americans have made many enduring and close personal friendships.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-hsien-loong/over-half-a-century-working-together-on-multiple-issues-singaporeans/) [Lee Hsien Loong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-hsien-loong/) > [At most, the greatest persons are but great wens, and excrescences; men of wit and delightful conversation, but as morals for ornament, except they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/at-most-the-greatest-persons-are-but-great-wens-and-excrescences-men/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [The most important thing I learned was the value of personal friendships and working cooperatively with your peers - the Academy has a saying,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-g-stavridis/the-most-important-thing-i-learned-was-the-value-of-personal/) [James G. 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Personal self-satisfaction is the death of the scientist. Collective self-satisfaction is the death of the research. It is restlessness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-monod/in-science-self-satisfaction-is-death-personal-self-satisfaction-is/) [Jacques Monod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-monod/) > [I've always been so curious about death. With my personal beliefs as a Baha'i, we believe that birth and death are very similar and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-baldoni/i-ve-always-been-so-curious-about-death-with-my-personal-beliefs-as-a/) [Justin Baldoni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-baldoni/) > [“Death is a personal matter, arousing sorrow, despair, fervor, or dry-hearted philosophy. Funerals, on the other hand, are social functions. Imagine going to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/death-is-a-personal-matter-arousing-sorrow-despair-fervor-or-dry/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“She wanted to die. She wanted to die. Because then it would be over. All the loss, all the grief, all the pain, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-sagara-west/she-wanted-to-die-she-wanted-to-die-because-then-it-would-be-over-all/) [Michelle Sagara West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-sagara-west/) ## More by Joseph Addison > [Half the misery of human life might be extinguished if men would alleviate the general curse they lie under by mutual offices of compassion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/half-the-misery-of-human-life-might-be-extinguished-if-men-would/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/every-wife-ought-to-answer-for-her-man-if-the-husband-be-engaged-in-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [There is nothing touches our imagination so much as a beautiful woman in a plain dress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/there-is-nothing-touches-our-imagination-so-much-as-a-beautiful-woman/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [We are always doing something for posterity, but I would fain see posterity do something for us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/we-are-always-doing-something-for-posterity-but-i-would-fain-see/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Female Virtues are of a Domestick turn. The Family is the proper Province for Private Women to Shine in. 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If I forget the extermination of the Jews, may my right hand wither, may my tongue stick to my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/menachem-begin/in-the-name-of-jerusalem-if-i-forget-the-extermination-of-the-jews/) [Menachem Begin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/menachem-begin/) > [But if you will recall the history of our civil troubles, you will see half the nation bathe itself, out of piety, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-diderot/but-if-you-will-recall-the-history-of-our-civil-troubles-you-will-see/) [Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/) > [Metallica's the only band i've ever been in. I'm not sure that when it ends in five, ten years, I'm going to put an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lars-ulrich/metallica-s-the-only-band-i-ve-ever-been-in-i-m-not-sure-that-when-it/) [Lars Ulrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lars-ulrich/) > [Cease speaking of enemies when an achievement can kindle a great light. Solitude will transmit the message better than the murmurs of crowds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-roerich/cease-speaking-of-enemies-when-an-achievement-can-kindle-a-great/) Nicholas Roerich > [Without a function, we cease to be. So, I will write till I die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/farley-mowat/without-a-function-we-cease-to-be-so-i-will-write-till-i-die/) [Farley Mowat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/farley-mowat/) > [We have won an armistice on a single battlefield, not peace in our world. We may not now relax our guard nor cease our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/we-have-won-an-armistice-on-a-single-battlefield-not-peace-in-our/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [My child, seek those things which make for peace. Cease to stir up the King against the Church, and urge upon him a better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-child-seek-those-things-which-make-for-peace-cease-to-stir-up-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [To write is to make oneself the echo of what cannot cease speaking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/to-write-is-to-make-oneself-the-echo-of-what-cannot-cease-speaking/) [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) > [Were the life of man prolonged, he would become such a proficient in villainy, that it would become necessary again to drown or to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/were-the-life-of-man-prolonged-he-would-become-such-a-proficient-in/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [When fear ceases to scare you, it cannot stay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-zukav/when-fear-ceases-to-scare-you-it-cannot-stay/) [Gary Zukav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-zukav/) > [We may argue eloquently that 'Honesty is the best Policy' - unfortunately, the moment honesty is adopted for the sake of policy it mysteriously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/we-may-argue-eloquently-that-honesty-is-the-best-policy-unfortunately/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [He who ceases to pray ceases to prosper.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gurney-benham/he-who-ceases-to-pray-ceases-to-prosper/) [William Gurney Benham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gurney-benham/) > [For we must share, if we would keep, that blessing from above; ceasing to give, we cease to have; such is the law of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-chenevix-trench/for-we-must-share-if-we-would-keep-that-blessing-from-above-ceasing/) [Richard Chenevix Trench](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-chenevix-trench/) > [When men are unhappy, they do not imagine they can ever cease to be so; and when some calamity has fallen on them, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/when-men-are-unhappy-they-do-not-imagine-they-can-ever-cease-to-be-so/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) Browse all 1,358 Cease quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Persons in great stations have seldom their true character drawn till several years after their death. 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