Joseph Addison
201 quotes
Biography
"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 select companions."
"If you wish success in life, make perseverance you bosom friend, experience your wise councellor, caution your elder brother, and hope your guardian genius."
"Music, the greatest good that mortals know,<br/>And all of heaven we have below."
"Music religious heat inspires, <br/>It wakes the soul, and lifts it high, <br/>And wings it with sublime desires, <br/>And fits it to bespeak the Deity."
"When time itself shall be no more, <br/> And all things in confusion hurl'd, <br/> Music shall then exert it's power, <br/> And sound survive the ruins of the world: <br/> Then saints and angels shall agree <br/> In one eternal jubilee: <br/> All Heaven shall echo with their hymns divine, <br/> And God himself with pleasure see <br/> The whole creation in a chorus join."
"Consecrate the place and day <br/> To music and Cecilia. <br/> Let no rough winds approach, nor dare <br/> Invade the hallow'd bounds, <br/> Nor rudely shake the tuneful air, <br/> Nor spoil the fleeting sounds. <br/> Nor mournful sigh nor groan be heard, <br/> But gladness dwell on every tongue; <br/> Whilst all, with voice and strings prepar'd, <br/> Keep up the loud harmonious song, <br/> And imitate the blest above, <br/> In joy, and harmony, and love."
"On you, my lord, with anxious fear I wait, <br/> And from your judgment must expect my fate."
"Let echo, too, perform her part, <br/>Prolonging every note with art; <br/>And in a low expiring strain, <br/>Play all the concert o'er again."
"A thousand trills and quivering sounds <br/>In airy circles o'er us fly, <br/>Till, wafted by a gentle breeze, <br/>They faint and languish by degrees, <br/>And at a distance die."
"For wheresoe'er I turn my ravished eyes, <br/> Gay gilded scenes and shining prospects rise, <br/> Poetic fields encompass me around, <br/> And still I seem to tread on classic ground."
"Fain would I Raphael's godlike art rehearse, <br/> And show th' immortal labours in my verse, <br/> Where from themingled strength of shade and light <br/> A new creation rises to my sight, <br/> Such heavenly figures from his pencil flow, <br/> So warm with life his blended colours glow. <br/> From theme to theme with secret pleasure tost, <br/> Amidst the soft variety I 'm lost: <br/> Here pleasing airs my ravish'd soul confound <br/> With circling notes and labyrinths of sound; <br/> Here domes and temples rise in distant views, <br/> And opening palaces invite my Muse."
"When hosts of foes with foes engage, <br/> And round th' anointed hero rage, <br/> The cleaving fauchion I misguide, <br/> And turn the feather'd shaft aside."
"Where have my ravish'd senses been! <br/> What joys, what wonders, have I seen! <br/> The scene yet stands before my eye, <br/> A thousand glorious deeds that lie <br/> In deep futurity obscure, <br/> Fights and triumphs immature, <br/> Heroes immers'd in time's dark womb, <br/> Ripening for mighty years to come, <br/> Break forth, and, to the day display'd, <br/> My soft inglorious hours upbraid. <br/> Transported with so bright a scheme, <br/> My waking life appears a dream."
"Every star, and every pow'r, <br/> Look down on this important hour: <br/> Lend your protection and defence <br/> Every guard of innocence! <br/> Help me my Henry to assuage, <br/> To gain his love or bear his rage. <br/> Mysterious love, uncertain treasure,<br/>Hast thou more of pain or pleasure!<br/>Chill'd with tears,<br/>Kill'd with fears,<br/>Endless torments dwell about thee:<br/>Yet who would live, and live without thee!"
"The man resolved, and steady to his trust, <br/> Inflexible to ill, and obstinately just, <br/> May the rude rabble's insolence despise, <br/> Their senseless clamours and tumultuous cries; <br/> The tyrant's fierceness he beguiles, <br/> And the stern brow, and the harsh voice defies, <br/> And with superior greatness smiles."
"Should the whole frame of Nature round him break, <br/> In ruin and confusion hurled, <br/> He, unconcerned, would hear the mighty crack, <br/> And stand secure amidst a falling world."
"When I read the several dates of the tombs, of some that died yesterday, and some six hundred years ago, I consider that great day when we shall all of us be contemporaries, and make our appearance together."
"When I read the epitaphs of the beautiful, every inordinate desire goes out; when I meet with the grief of parents upon a tombstone, my heart melts with compassion; when I see the tomb of the parents themselves, I consider the vanity of grieving for those whom we must quickly follow: when I see kings lying by those who deposed them, when I consider rival wits placed side by side, or the holy men that divided the world with their contests and disputes, I reflect with sorrow and astonishment on the little competitions, factions, and debates of mankind."
"See in what peace a Christian can die!"
"Great souls by instinct to each other turn, <br/> Demand alliance, and in friendship burn; <br/> A sudden friendship, while with stretched-out rays <br/> They meet each other, mingling blaze with blaze. <br/> Polished in courts, and hardened in the field, <br/> Renowned for conquest, and in council skilled, <br/> Their courage dwells not in a troubled flood <br/> Of mounting spirits, and fermenting blood: <br/> Lodged in the soul, with virtue overruled, <br/> Inflamed by reason, and by reason cooled, <br/> In hours of peace content to be unknown. <br/> And only in the field of battle shown: <br/> To souls like these, in mutual friendship joined, <br/> Heaven dares intrust the cause of humankind."
"Nations with nations mix'd confus'dly die, <br/> And lost in one promiscuous carnage lie."
"Unbounded courage and compassion join'd, <br/> Tempering each other in the victor's mind, <br/> Alternately proclaim him good and great, <br/> And make the hero and the man complete."
"So when an angel by divine command <br/>With rising tempests shakes a guilty land, <br/>Such as of late o'er pale Britannia passed, <br/>Calm and serene he drives the furious blast; <br/>And, pleas'd th' Almighty's orders to perform, <br/>Rides in the whirlwind, and directs the storm."
"O Dormer, how can I behold thy fate, <br/>And not the wonders of thy youth relate; <br/>How can I see the gay, the brave, the young, <br/>Fall in the cloud of war, and lie unsung! <br/>In joys of conquest he resigns his breath, <br/>And, filled with England's glory, smiles in death."
"Rais'd of themselves, their genuine charms they boast, <br/> And those who paint them truest praise them most."