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.
Joseph AddisonRead
An honest private man often grows cruel and abandoned when converted into an absolute prince. Give a man power of doing what he pleases with impunity, you extinguish his fear, and consequently overturn in him one of the great pillars of morality.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that absolute power can corrupt a person's morals and humanity.
Joseph Addison's quote reflects the idea that individuals who possess unchecked power may lose their moral compass. When a private person is elevated to a position of absolute authority, they may become cruel and desensitized, as the absence of accountability removes their fear of consequences. This transformation indicates that fear is an essential component of morality, and its absence can lead to the degradation of one's ethical principles.
Themes
PowerCorruptionMoralityAuthorityFear
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion on leadership ethics, one might quote this to highlight the risks of unchecked authority.
More from Joseph Addison
All quotes →Good nature is more agreeable in conversation than wit and gives a certain air to the countenance which is more amiable than beauty.
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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.
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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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