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.
„The Fear of Death often proves Mortal, and sets People on Methods to save their Lives, which infallibly destroy them.“
No. 25 (29 March 1711).
The Spectator (1711–1714)
„Keep up the loud harmonious song,
And imitate the blest above,
In joy, and harmony, and love.“
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.
„Discretion has large and extended views, and, like a well-formed eye, commands a whole horizon: cunning is a kind of short-sightedness, that discovers the minutest objects which are near at hand, but is not able to discern things at a distance. Discretion the more it is discovered, gives a greater authority to the person who possesses it: cunning, when it is once detected, loses its force, and makes a man incapable of bringing about even those events which he might have done had he passed only for a plain man.“
No. 225.
The Tatler (1711–1714)
Contesto: At the same time that I think discretion the most useful talent a man can be master of, I look upon cunning to be the accomplishment of little, mean, ungenerous minds. Discretion points out the noblest ends to us, and pursues the most proper and laudable methods of attaining them: cunning has only private selfish aims, and sticks at nothing which may make them succeed. Discretion has large and extended views, and, like a well-formed eye, commands a whole horizon: cunning is a kind of short-sightedness, that discovers the minutest objects which are near at hand, but is not able to discern things at a distance. Discretion the more it is discovered, gives a greater authority to the person who possesses it: cunning, when it is once detected, loses its force, and makes a man incapable of bringing about even those events which he might have done had he passed only for a plain man. Discretion is the perfection of reason, and a guide to us in all the duties of life: cunning is a kind of instinct, that only looks out after our immediate interest and welfare. Discretion is only found in men of strong sense and good understandings, cunning is often to be met with in brutes themselves, and in persons who are but the fewest removes from them.
„A man's first care should be to avoid the reproaches of his own heart; his next to escape the censures of the world“
Contesto: A man's first care should be to avoid the reproaches of his own heart; his next to escape the censures of the world: if the last interferes with the former, it ought to be entirely neglected; but otherwise there cannot be a greater satisfaction to an honest mind, than to see those approbations which it gives itself seconded by the applauses of the public: a man is more sure of his conduct, when the verdict which he passes upon his own behaviour is thus warranted and confirmed by the opinion of all that know him.
On "Sir Roger", in The Spectator No. 122 (20 July 1711).
„Transported with the view, I'm lost
In wonder, love and praise.“
No. 453 (9 August 1712).
The Spectator (1711–1714)
Contesto: When all thy mercies, O my God,
My rising soul surveys,
Transported with the view, I'm lost
In wonder, love and praise.
„At the same time that I think discretion the most useful talent a man can be master of, I look upon cunning to be the accomplishment of little, mean, ungenerous minds.“
No. 225.
The Tatler (1711–1714)
Contesto: At the same time that I think discretion the most useful talent a man can be master of, I look upon cunning to be the accomplishment of little, mean, ungenerous minds. Discretion points out the noblest ends to us, and pursues the most proper and laudable methods of attaining them: cunning has only private selfish aims, and sticks at nothing which may make them succeed. Discretion has large and extended views, and, like a well-formed eye, commands a whole horizon: cunning is a kind of short-sightedness, that discovers the minutest objects which are near at hand, but is not able to discern things at a distance. Discretion the more it is discovered, gives a greater authority to the person who possesses it: cunning, when it is once detected, loses its force, and makes a man incapable of bringing about even those events which he might have done had he passed only for a plain man. Discretion is the perfection of reason, and a guide to us in all the duties of life: cunning is a kind of instinct, that only looks out after our immediate interest and welfare. Discretion is only found in men of strong sense and good understandings, cunning is often to be met with in brutes themselves, and in persons who are but the fewest removes from them.
