Frasi di Joseph Addison
Joseph Addison
Data di nascita: 1. Maggio 1672
Data di morte: 17. Giugno 1719
Joseph Addison è stato un politico, scrittore e drammaturgo britannico.
Frasi Joseph Addison
„La domenica pulisce tutta la ruggine della settimana.“
112
Sunday clears away the rust of the whole week.
The Spectator
„Vi sono alcune ragioni per le quali il sapere è più consono al mondo delle donne che a quello degli uomini. In primo luogo, esse hanno più tempo libero e conducono vita più sedentaria… Un'altra ragione per la quale le donne, specialmente donne di rango, dovrebbero applicarsi alle lettere è che i mariti sono generalmente estranei.“
dal Guardian del 1713; citato in Ian Watt, Le origini del romanzo borghese
„Niente si può mettere bene in musica che non sia privo di senso.“
18
Nothing is capable of being well set to music, that is not nonsense.
The Spectator
„Quando penso a questa grande città [Londra] divisa in tante parti e quartieri la considero come un complesso composto di diverse nazioni differenti per costumi, maniere e interessi… In breve gli abitanti di St. James, sebbene vivano sotto le stesse leggi e parlino lo stesso linguaggio, sono un popolo diverso dagli abitanti di Cheapside che sono altrettanto separati da un lato, da quelli di Temple e, dall'altro, da quelli di Smithfield.“
dallo Spectator; citato in Ian Watt, Le origini del romanzo borghese
The Spectator
„Cheerfulness is…the best promoter of health.“
No. 387 (24 May 1712).
The Spectator (1711–1714)
„Sunday clears away the rust of the whole week.“
No. 112 (9 July 1711).
The Spectator (1711–1714)
„When I read the epitaphs of the beautiful, every inordinate desire goes out“
Thoughts in Westminster Abbey (1711).
Contesto: When I read the epitaphs of the beautiful, every inordinate desire goes out; when I meet with the grief of parents upon a tombstone, my heart melts with compassion; when I see the tomb of the parents themselves, I consider the vanity of grieving for those whom we must quickly follow: when I see kings lying by those who deposed them, when I consider rival wits placed side by side, or the holy men that divided the world with their contests and disputes, I reflect with sorrow and astonishment on the little competitions, factions, and debates of mankind.
„Reading is to the mind, what exercise is to the body.“
No. 147.
The Tatler (1711–1714)
Variante: A good conscience is to the soul what health is to the body
Contesto: Reading is to the mind, what exercise is to the body. As by the one, health is preserved, strengthened, and invigorated: by the other, virtue (which is the health of the mind) is kept alive, cherished, and confirmed.
„My voice is still for war.
Gods! Can a Roman senate long debate
Which of the two to choose, slavery or death?“
— Joseph Addison, libro Cato
Act II, scene i.
Cato, A Tragedy (1713)
Contesto: My voice is still for war.
Gods! Can a Roman senate long debate
Which of the two to choose, slavery or death?
No, let us rise at once,
Gird on our swords, and,
At the head of our remaining troops, attack the foe,
Break through the thick array of his throng'd legions,
And charge home upon him.
Perhaps some arm, more lucky than the rest,
May reach his heart, and free the world from bondage.
„Mysterious love, uncertain treasure,
Hast thou more of pain or pleasure!
Chill'd with tears,
Kill'd with fears,
Endless torments dwell about thee:
Yet who would live, and live without thee!“
Queen Elinor in Rosamond (c. 1707), Act III, sc. ii.
Contesto: Every star, and every pow'r,
Look down on this important hour:
Lend your protection and defence
Every guard of innocence!
Help me my Henry to assuage,
To gain his love or bear his rage.
Mysterious love, uncertain treasure,
Hast thou more of pain or pleasure!
Chill'd with tears,
Kill'd with fears,
Endless torments dwell about thee:
Yet who would live, and live without thee!
„Consecrate the place and day
To music and Cecilia.
Let no rough winds approach, nor dare
Invade the hallow'd bounds,
Nor rudely shake the tuneful air,
Nor spoil the fleeting sounds.“
Song for St. Cecilia's Day (1692).
Contesto: Consecrate the place and day
To music and Cecilia.
Let no rough winds approach, nor dare
Invade the hallow'd bounds,
Nor rudely shake the tuneful air,
Nor spoil the fleeting sounds.
Nor mournful sigh nor groan be heard,
But gladness dwell on every tongue;
Whilst all, with voice and strings prepar'd,
Keep up the loud harmonious song,
And imitate the blest above,
In joy, and harmony, and love.
„All the illustrious persons of antiquity, and indeed of every age in the world, have passed through this fiery persecution. There is no defense against reproach but obscurity“
No. 101 (26 June 1711).
The Spectator (1711–1714)
Contesto: "Censure," says a late ingenious author, "is the tax a man plays for being eminent." It is a folly for an eminent man to think of escaping it, and a weakness to be affected with it. All the illustrious persons of antiquity, and indeed of every age in the world, have passed through this fiery persecution. There is no defense against reproach but obscurity; it is a kind of comitant to greatness, as satires and invectives were an essential part of a Roman triumph.
„There are many more shining qualities in the mind of man, but there is none so useful as discretion“
No. 225.
The Tatler (1711–1714)
Contesto: There are many more shining qualities in the mind of man, but there is none so useful as discretion; it is this, indeed, which gives a value to all the rest, which sets them at work in their proper times and places, and turns them to the advantage of the person who is possessed of them. Without it, learning is pedantry, and wit impertinence; virtue itself looks like weakness; the best parts only qualify a man to be more sprightly in errors, and active to his own prejudice.
„The man resolved, and steady to his trust,
Inflexible to ill, and obstinately just,
May the rude rabble's insolence despise“
Translation of Horace, Odes, Book III, ode iii.
Contesto: The man resolved, and steady to his trust,
Inflexible to ill, and obstinately just,
May the rude rabble's insolence despise,
Their senseless clamours and tumultuous cries;
The tyrant's fierceness he beguiles,
And the stern brow, and the harsh voice defies,
And with superior greatness smiles.
