"There is not a more unhappy being than a superannuated idol."

Joseph Addison Politics See all quotes by Joseph Addison →

React to this quote

More by Joseph Addison

“Joseph Addison page at San Antonio College”

“A man that has a taste of music, painting, or architecture, is like one that has another sense, when compared with such as have no relish of those arts.”

“There is nothing more requisite in business than dispatch.”

“Sir Roger made several reflections on the greatness of the British Nation; as, that one Englishman could beat three Frenchmen; that we could never be in danger of Popery so long as we took care of our fleet; that the Thames was the noblest river in Europe...with many other honest prejudices which naturally cleave to the heart of a true Englishman.”

“I shall endeavor to enliven morality with wit, and to temper wit with morality.”

“Arguments out of a pretty mouth are unanswerable.”

Resonant Thoughts

"Tony Fernández, who has worn hero's laurels throughout the postseason, including earlier in this seventh game of the World Series—now, cruel as it may seem, perhaps being fitted for goat horns."

— Bob Costas

Sports1952

#philosophy

"No candidate will risk being linked with a "suspected" addict — but a registered, admitted addict is a whole different thing. As long as I'd confessed, I was okay. Nobody really cared about the countl…"

— Hunter S. Thompson

Literature1937–2005

#philosophy

"If Congress alters the law and directs me to replace on the coins the sentence in question the direction will be immediately put into effect; but I very earnestly trust that the religious sentiment of…"

— Theodore Roosevelt

Politics1858–1919

#philosophy

"There is a big logical jump between acknowledging the destructive nature of hyperinflation and arguing that the lower the rate of inflation, the better."

— Ha-Joon Chang

Economics1990–2021

#philosophy