Date: May 10, 1711

"The Seeds of Punning are in the Minds of all Men, and tho' they may be subdued by Reason, Reflection, and Good Sense, they will be very apt to shoot up in the greatest Genius that is not broken and cultivated by the Rules of Art."

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: Monday, March 19, 1711

"Extinguish Vanity in the Mind, and you naturally retrench the little Superfluities of Garniture and Equipage. The Blossoms will fall of themselves, when the Root that nourishes them is destroyed."

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: Wednesday, June 13, 1711

"When therefore the obscene Passions in particular have once taken Root and spread themselves in the Soul, they cleave to her inseparably, and remain in her for ever, after the Body is cast off and thrown aside."

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: Monday, June 18, 1711

"The latter [the fool and his passions] is like the Owner of a barren Country that fills his Eye with the Prospect of naked Hills and Plains, which produce nothing either profitable or ornamental; the other [the wise man and his ideas] beholds a beautiful and spacious Landskip divided into deligh...

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: Monday, March 12, 1711

"The Mind that lies fallow but a single Day, sprouts up in Follies that are only to be killed by a constant and assiduous Culture."

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: Saturday, June 7, 1712

"We should always act with great Cautiousness and Circumspection in Points, where it is not impossible that we may be deceived. Intemperate Zeal, Bigotry and Persecution for any Party or Opinion, how praiseworthy soever they may appear to weak Men of our own Principles, produce infinite Calamitie...

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: Saturday, June 28, 1712

"By this means they awaken other Ideas of the same Sett, which immediately determine a new Dispatch of Spirits, that in the same manner open other Neighbouring Traces, till at last the whole Sett of them is blown up, and the whole Prospect or Garden flourishes in the Imagination."

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: January 6, 1716

"As self-love is an instinct planted in us for the good and safety of each particular person, the love of our country is impressed on our minds for the happiness and preservation of the community."

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: March 30, 1716

"It often happens, that extirpating the love of glory, which is observed to take the deepest root in noble minds, tears up several virtues with it"

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)

Date: 1730

"This would effectually kill in us all the little seeds of pride, vanity and self-conceit, which are apt to shoot up in the minds of such whose thoughts turn more on those comparative advantages which they enjoy over some of their fellow-creatures, than on that infinite distance which is placed b...

— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)