Talk:Joseph Addison

From Wikiquote

I added the cleanup tag to this page because the sourced quotes need some reorganization. There seem to be quotes from the same source (or the same source, but different dates) strewn throughout the page that should be gathered together. ~ UDScott 16:54, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] From Wikipedia

I deleted the following bunch from Wikipedia - just need to check that they are included here. BD2412 T 21:37, 7 November 2007 (UTC)

• "There are three sides to every story -- your side, my side and the right side."

• "The grand essentials for happiness in this life are something to do, something to love and something to hope for."

• "Admiration is a very short-lived passion, that immediately decays upon growing familiar with its object."

• "Beauty soon grows familiar to the lover,/ Fades in his eye, and palls upon the sense."

• "A man must be both stupid and uncharitable who believes there is no virtue or truth but on his own side."

• "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 of others."

• "The spacious firmament on high,/ With all the blue ethereal sky,/ And shining heav'ns, a spangled frame,/ Their great Original proclaim."

• "I do not believe that sheer suffering teaches. If suffering alone taught, all the world would be wise, since everyone suffers. To suffering must be added mourning, understanding, patience, love, openness and the willingness to remain vulnerable."

• "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 is inconceivable."

• "Discretion is the perfection of reason, and a guide to win all the duties of life."

• Last words — "See in what peace a Christian can die."

• "Certain is it that there is no kind of affection so purely angelic as of a father to a daughter. In love to our wives there is desire; to our sons, ambition; but to our daughters there is something which there are no words to express."

[edit] Unsourced

• The unassuming youth seeking instruction with humility gains good fortune.
  • Though it appears on some websites as an Addison quote, I can find no reliable source for this attributing it to Addison or anyone else. This is the only remnant of the quotes I will otherwise reorganize into sourced, disputed or misattributed sections on the article page. ~ Kalki 08:36, 1 May 2009 (UTC)