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
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the idea that all ideas have been explored before, and our role is to express them in unique ways.
Joseph Addison expresses the notion that in today's world, it is unlikely for anyone to come up with entirely original observations or ideas in morality, art, or science since many have been previously explored. Instead, our task is to reframe and represent the thoughts of humanity with greater strength, beauty, or uniqueness, thus making them resonate more profoundly with others.
Themes
OriginalityExpressionCreativityArtPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about creativity at an art conference.
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.
Joseph AddisonRead
Ridicule is generally made use of to laugh men out of virtue and good sense, by attacking everything praiseworthy in human life.
Joseph AddisonRead
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
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
There is no greater sign of a general decay of virtue in a nation, than a want of zeal in its inhabitants for the good of their country.
Joseph AddisonRead
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The peril of this Nation is not in any foreign foe! We, the people, are its power, its peril, and its hope.
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It is no use painting the foot of the tree white, the strength of the bark cries out from beneath the paint.
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Those who call themselves anti-Zionists usually insist they are not anti-Semites. But I struggle to see what else to call an ideology that seeks to eradicate only one state in the world - the one that happens to be the Jewish one - while empathetically insisting on the rights of self-determination for every other minority.
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Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.
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