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Meaning
It reads as a warning not to let self-importance crowd out simple joy. The point is that laughter is not a childish extra, but one of the pleasures that keeps a person human, and it lands when learning or experience makes someone cleverer but also harder to please.
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Original Language & Translation
Originally said in English.
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About Joseph Addison
British writer and politician
Joseph Addison was a British writer and politician remembered as a leading figure of early 18th-century English prose. He lived in the period 1672 to 1719 and is especially associated with Richard Steele, his close friend and co-founder of The Spectator. Addison is best known for helping shape a clearer, simpler prose style that moved away from the mannered habits and stock classical imagery of the previous century. He is also known for Cato, a Tragedy, written in 1712, which helped secure his reputation beyond periodical writing.
More from Joseph Addison (90 quotes) →Other sayings from Joseph Addison
- “Some virtues are only seen in affliction and others only in prosperity.”Joseph Addison
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- “What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the soul.”Joseph Addison
- “If we may believe our logicians, man is distinguished from all other creatures by the faculty of laughter. He…”Joseph Addison
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