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Books are the legacies that a great genius leaves to mankind
Joseph Addison
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Books preserve the ideas and wisdom of great minds for future generations.

This quote by Joseph Addison highlights the immortal nature of books as they carry the thoughts, creativity, and insights of great thinkers throughout history. It emphasizes that the literary works produced by individuals recognized as geniuses are invaluable legacies, passing knowledge, inspiration, and culture from one generation to the next.

Themes

BooksLegacyGeniusKnowledgeWisdom

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech about the importance of literature, one might say, 'As Joseph Addison stated, books are the legacies that a great genius leaves to mankind.'

More from Joseph Addison

Unbounded courage and compassion join'd, Tempering each other in the victor's mind, Alternately proclaim him good and great, And make the hero and the man complete.
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Good nature is more agreeable in conversation than wit and gives a certain air to the countenance which is more amiable than beauty.
Joseph AddisonRead
Ridicule is generally made use of to laugh men out of virtue and good sense, by attacking everything praiseworthy in human life.
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Admiration is a very short lived passion that immediately decays upon growing familiar with its object, unless it still be fed with fresh discoveries, and kept alive by a new perpetual succession of miracles rising up to its view.
Joseph AddisonRead
It is impossible for us, who live in the latter ages of the world, to make observations in criticism, morality, or in any art or science, which have not been touched upon by others. We have little else left us but to represent the common sense of mankind in more strong, more beautiful, or more uncommon lights.
Joseph AddisonRead
An ostentatious man will rather relate a blunder or an absurdity he has committed, than be debarred from talking of his own dear person.
Joseph AddisonRead

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Rather, very, little, pretty - these are the leeches that infest the pond of prose, sucking the blood of words. The constant use of the adjective little (except to indicate size) is particularly debilitating; we should all try to do a little better, we should all be very watchful of this rule, for it is a rather important one, and we are pretty sure to violate it now and then.
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A little wisdom, now and then

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