“La lectura es para la mente lo que el ejercicio es para el cuerpo.”
Fuente: Villamarin Pulido, Luis Alberto. Superación personal: Tesoro de la sabiduría- Tomo II. Editorial Luis Villamarin, 2015. ISBN 9781512274851, p. 77.
Joseph Addison, escritor y político inglés. Nació en Milston, Wiltshire el 1 de mayo de 1672 y murió en Holland House, Kensington el 17 de junio de 1719.
Hijo del decano de la catedral de Lichfield, ya en 1694 publicó un libro sobre la vida de poetas ingleses y una traducción de las Geórgicas de Virgilio. En 1699 comienza a prepararse para el servicio diplomático, para lo cual viaja por toda Europa. Escribió diarios de viaje, por ejemplo sobre Italia y también sobre la campiña inglesa, y algunas obras de teatro, como Catón y El tamborilero .
Con Richard Steele funda la revista The Spectator en 1711, donde publica su obra Los placeres de la imaginación, en 1712. También escribió para la publicación The Tatler. Aunque se destacó como ensayista, participó en el Parlamento Inglés como representante whig, y entre 1717 e 1718 fue Secretario de Estado.
“La lectura es para la mente lo que el ejercicio es para el cuerpo.”
Fuente: Villamarin Pulido, Luis Alberto. Superación personal: Tesoro de la sabiduría- Tomo II. Editorial Luis Villamarin, 2015. ISBN 9781512274851, p. 77.
Fuente: Escandón, Rafael, Frases célebres para toda ocasión. Editorial Diana, 1982. ISBN 978-96-8131-285-5, p. 118.
“En verdad que el hombre no es más que una sombra, y la vida, un sueño.”
Fuente: Morales Uribe, Alberto. Historias casi ficticias. Número 44 de Colección Cultiva. Editor Cultivalibros, 2009. ISBN 9788492519767, p. 9.
“El saber, después de la virtud, es ciertamente lo que eleva a un hombre a mayor altura que otro.”
Fuente: Ortega Blake, Arturo. El gran libro de las frases célebres. Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial México, 2013 ISBN 978-60-7311-631-2.
“Mira en qué paz puede morir un cristiano.”
Últimas palabras
Original: «See in what peace a Christian can die».
Fuente: Aikin, Lucy. The Life of Joseph Addison, volumen 2. Library of English literature. Editorial Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1843. Página 236. https://books.google.es/books?id=xEoJAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA236&dq=See+in+what+peace+a+Christian+can+die.+Joseph+Addison&hl=es&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjzm9HkuObfAhVy1-AKHdPrA7QQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=See%20in%20what%20peace%20a%20Christian%20can%20die.%20Joseph%20Addison&f=false
Original: «But to consider this subject in its most ridiculous lights, advertisements are of great use to the vulgar. First of all as they are instruments of ambition. A man that is by no means big enough for the Gazette, may easily creep into the advertisements; by which means we often see an apothecary in the same paper of news with a plenipotentiary, or a running footman with an ambassador».
Fuente: The Tatler n.º 224, jueves, 14 de septiembre de 1710. Addison, Joseph. The Tatler. The Guardian. The Freeholder. The Whig-examiner. The lover. Dialogues upon the usefulness of ancient medals... Volumen 3 de The Works of Joseph Addison. Editorial Harper & Brothers, 1845. Página 67. https://books.google.es/books?id=mPk7AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA67&dq=Advertisements+are+of+great+use+to+the+vulgar.+First+of+all,+as+they+are+instruments+of+ambition.+A+man+that+is+by+no+means+big+enough+for+the+Gazette,+may+easily+creep+into+the+advertisements;+by+which+means+we+often+see+an+apothecary+in+the+same+paper+of+news+with+a+plenipotentiary,+or+a+running+footman+with+an+ambassador&hl=es&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjtqeWPpObfAhVG1eAKHYr6C1sQ6AEILzAB#v=onepage&q=Advertisements%20are%20of%20great%20use%20to%20the%20vulgar.%20First%20of%20all%2C%20as%20they%20are%20instruments%20of%20ambition.%20A%20man%20that%20is%20by%20no%20means%20big%20enough%20for%20the%20Gazette%2C%20may%20easily%20creep%20into%20the%20advertisements%3B%20by%20which%20means%20we%20often%20see%20an%20apothecary%20in%20the%20same%20paper%20of%20news%20with%20a%20plenipotentiary%2C%20or%20a%20running%20footman%20with%20an%20ambassador&f=false
Original: «There is not so variable a thing in nature as a lady's headdress: within my own memory I have known it rise and fall above thirty degrees».
Fuente: Spectator, número 98. The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Volumen 3. Joseph Addison. Editor Richard Hurd. Editorial T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1811. Página 227. https://books.google.es/books?id=coRjAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA227&dq=There+is+not+so+variable+a+thing+in+nature+as+a+lady%27s+head-dress.+Joseph+Addison&hl=es&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjXur3ztObfAhUEcBQKHbSGDFcQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=There%20is%20not%20so%20variable%20a%20thing%20in%20nature%20as%20a%20lady's%20head-dress.%20Joseph%20Addison&f=false
Original: «True happiness is to no place confined, But still is found in a contented mind».
Fuente: The Works of Joseph Addison: The Spectator, no. 1-314. Volumen 1 de The Works of Joseph Addison: Complete in Three Volumes: Embracing the Whole of the "Spectator. Joseph Addison. Harper & Brothers, 1837. Página 289. https://books.google.es/books?id=1Z1KAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA289&lpg=PA289&dq=Joy+is,+above+all,+health+promotion.+Joseph+Addison&source=bl&ots=K1uJNCNc_Z&sig=EcApzQUNAdTWH-uJs1lvW7OXoJY&hl=es&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj69siqsebfAhVR1xoKHc30CrwQ6AEwCXoECAYQAQ#v=onepage&q=True%20happiness%20is%20to%20no%20place%20confin'd%2C%20&f=false
“Thanks to the gods! my boy has done his duty.”
Act IV, scene iv.
Cato, A Tragedy (1713)
Saadi as translated in The Gulistān : Or, Rose-garden, of Shek̲h̲ Muslihu'd-dīn Sādī of Shīrāz as translated by Edward Backhouse Eastwick (1880), p. 203.
Misattributed
No. 25 (29 March 1711).
The Spectator (1711–1714)
No. 225.
The Tatler (1711–1714)
Contexto: 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.
Contexto: 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).
No. 225.
The Tatler (1711–1714)
Contexto: The discreet man finds out the talents of those he converses with, and knows how to apply them to proper uses. Accordingly, if we look into particular communities and divisions of men, we may observe that it is the discreet man, not the witty, nor the learned, nor the brave, who guides the conversation, and gives measures to the society.
“Every star, and every pow'r,
Look down on this important hour”
Queen Elinor in Rosamond (c. 1707), Act III, sc. ii.
Contexto: 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!
“Perhaps some arm, more lucky than the rest,
May reach his heart, and free the world from bondage.”
Act II, scene i.
Cato, A Tragedy (1713)
Contexto: 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.
Song for St. Cecilia's Day (1692).
Contexto: 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.
Song for St. Cecilia's Day (1692).
Contexto: When time itself shall be no more,
And all things in confusion hurl'd,
Music shall then exert it's power,
And sound survive the ruins of the world:
Then saints and angels shall agree
In one eternal jubilee:
All Heaven shall echo with their hymns divine,
And God himself with pleasure see
The whole creation in a chorus join.
“Where have my ravish'd senses been!
What joys, what wonders, have I seen!”
Henry in Rosamond (c. 1707), Act III, sc. i.
Contexto: Where have my ravish'd senses been!
What joys, what wonders, have I seen!
The scene yet stands before my eye,
A thousand glorious deeds that lie
In deep futurity obscure,
Fights and triumphs immature,
Heroes immers'd in time's dark womb,
Ripening for mighty years to come,
Break forth, and, to the day display'd,
My soft inglorious hours upbraid.
Transported with so bright a scheme,
My waking life appears a dream.
No. 225.
The Tatler (1711–1714)
Contexto: Though a man has all other perfections, and wants discretion, he will be of no great consequence in the world; but if he has this single talent in perfection, and but a common share of others, he may do what he pleases in his station of life.
No. 101 (26 June 1711).
The Spectator (1711–1714)
Contexto: "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.
Fuente: The Campaign (1704), Line 287, the word "passed" was here originally spelt "past" but modern renditions have updated the spelling for clarity. An alteration of these lines occurs in Alexander Pope's satire The Dunciad, Book III, line 264, where he describes a contemporary theatre manager as an "Angel of Dulness":
Immortal Rich! how calm he sits at ease,
Midst snows of paper, and fierce hail of pease;
And proud his mistress' order to perform,
Rides in the whirlwind and directs the storm.
Fuente: The Campaign (1704), Line 101.
Contexto: Great souls by instinct to each other turn,
Demand alliance, and in friendship burn;
A sudden friendship, while with stretched-out rays
They meet each other, mingling blaze with blaze.
Polished in courts, and hardened in the field,
Renowned for conquest, and in council skilled,
Their courage dwells not in a troubled flood
Of mounting spirits, and fermenting blood:
Lodged in the soul, with virtue overruled,
Inflamed by reason, and by reason cooled,
In hours of peace content to be unknown.
And only in the field of battle shown:
To souls like these, in mutual friendship joined,
Heaven dares intrust the cause of humankind.
No. 225.
The Tatler (1711–1714)
Contexto: The cast of mind which is natural to a discreet man, make him look forward into futurity, and consider what will be his condition millions of ages hence, as well as what it is at present. He knows that the misery or happiness which are reserved for him in another world, lose nothing of their reality by being placed at so great a distance from him. The objects do not appear little to him because they are remote. He considers that those pleasures and pains which lie hid in eternity, approach nearer to him every moment, and will be present with him in their full weight and measure, as much as those pains and pleasures which he feels at this very instant. For this reason he is careful to secure to himself that which is the proper happiness of his nature, and the ultimate design of his being. He carries his thoughts to the end of every action, and considers the most distant as well as the most immediate effects of it. He supersedes every little prospect of gain and advantage which offers itself here, if he does not find it consistent with his views of an hereafter. In a word, his hopes are full of immortality, his schemes are large and glorious, and his conduct suitable to one who knows his true interest, and how to pursue it by proper methods.
No. 101 (26 June 1711), this has sometimes been quoted as "It is the privilege of posterity to set matters right between those antagonists who, by their rivalry for greatness, divided a whole age".
The Spectator (1711–1714)
Contexto: If men of eminence are exposed to censure on one hand, they are as much liable to flattery on the other. If they receive reproaches which are not due to them, they likewise receive praises which they do not deserve. In a word, the man in a high post is never regarded with an indifferent eye, but always considered as a friend or an enemy. For this reason persons in great stations have seldom their true characters drawn till several years after their deaths. Their personal friendships and enmities must cease, and the parties they were engaged in be at an end, before their faults or their virtues can have justice done them. When writers have the least opportunity of knowing the truth, they are in the best disposition to tell it.
It is therefore the privilege of posterity to adjust the characters of illustrious persons, and to set matters right between those antagonists who by their rivalry for greatness divided a whole age into factions.
Henry in Rosamond (c. 1707), Act III, sc. i.
Contexto: Where have my ravish'd senses been!
What joys, what wonders, have I seen!
The scene yet stands before my eye,
A thousand glorious deeds that lie
In deep futurity obscure,
Fights and triumphs immature,
Heroes immers'd in time's dark womb,
Ripening for mighty years to come,
Break forth, and, to the day display'd,
My soft inglorious hours upbraid.
Transported with so bright a scheme,
My waking life appears a dream.
This appears as an anonymous proverb in Frank Leslie's Sunday Magazine Vol. XIII, (January - June 1883) edited by T. De Witt Talmage, and apparently only in recent years has it become attributed to Addison.
Disputed
“Upon the whole, a contented mind is the greatest blessing a man can enjoy in this world.”
No. 574 (30 July 1714).
The Spectator (1711–1714)
Though sometimes attributed to Addison, this actually comes from a speech delivered by the Irish lawyer Charles Phillips in 1817, in the case of O'Mullan v. M'Korkill, published in Irish Eloquence: The Speeches of the Celebrated Irish Orators (1834) pp. 91-92.
Misattributed
“Sweet are the slumbers of the virtuous man.”
Act V, scene iv.
Cato, A Tragedy (1713)
Very often attributed to Addison, this is in fact by Hugh Blair, published in Blair's Sermons (1815), Vol. 1, pp. 196-197.
Misattributed
No. 465, Ode (23 August 1712).
Also in The Polite Arts (1749), Chap. XXI. "Of Lyrick Poetry."
The Spectator (1711–1714)
“The soul, secured in her existence, smiles
At the drawn dagger, and defies its point.”
Act V, scene i.
Cato, A Tragedy (1713)