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Authors have established it as a kind of rule, that a man ought to be dull sometimes; as the most severe reader makes allowances for many rests and nodding places in a voluminous writer.

— Joseph Addison The Spectator (1711)

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More quotes by Joseph Addison

Keep up the loud harmonious song,
And imitate the blest above,
In joy, and harmony, and love.

Song for St. Cecilia's Day (1692)

If we may believe our logicians, man is distinguished from all other creatures by the faculty of laughter.

The Spectator (1711)

'Tis not in mortals to command success,
But we'll do more, Sempronius; we'll deserve it.

Cato, A Tragedy (1713)

We are growing serious, and,
Let me tell you, that's the very next step to being dull.

The Drummer (1716)

Thus I live in the world rather as a spectator of mankind than as one of the species.

The Spectator (1711)

All Joseph Addison quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Joseph Addison (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.