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
The most violent appetites in all creatures are lust and hunger; the first is a perpetual call upon them to propagate their kind, the latter to preserve themselves.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the primal instincts of lust and hunger as fundamental drives for survival and procreation.
Joseph Addison's quote emphasizes the idea that the strongest desires in living beings stem from two basic needs: the urge to reproduce and the need to sustain life. Lust serves as a motivating force for species to continue their lineage, while hunger represents the necessity for survival. Together, these 'violent appetites' not only reflect the biological imperatives of life but also underline the core motivations that drive behavior in all creatures.
Themes
LustHungerSurvivalInstinctsNature
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on human behavior, one might reference this quote to illustrate the primal instincts that drive people.
More from Joseph Addison
All quotes βGood 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.
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