In memory of Joseph Addison, a british poet and politician of the seventeenth century. Addison excelled in classics, and was noted for his Latin verse. His first major work was a book about the lives of English poets, published in 1694. When he died, he left a work unfinished, entitled "Evidences of Christianity". At the time of its writing, it was an early example of modern day Christian apologetics. He is now probably best known for his "Words of Wisdom", which are as true today as when he wrote them. Here is a sampling: The fear of death often proves mortal, and sets people on methods to save their Lives, which infallibly destroy them. ______________ See in what peace a Christian can die. ______________ I will indulge my sorrows, and give way to all the pangs and fury of despair. ______________ Our friends don't see our faults, or conceal them, or soften them. ______________ Friendship improves happiness, and abates misery, by doubling our joys, and dividing our grief. ______________ Friendships, in general, are suddenly contracted; and therefore it is no wonder they are easily dissolved. ______________ The friendships of the world are oft confederacies in vice, or leagues of pleasures. ______________ The greatest sweetener of human life is Friendship. To raise this to the highest pitch of enjoyment, is a secret which but few discover. ______________ A man should always consider how much he has more than he wants... ______________ I have somewhere met with the epitaph on a charitable man which has pleased me very much. I cannot recollect the words, but here is the sense of it: What I spent I lost; what I possessed is left to others; what I gave away remains with me. ______________ Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose. ______________ True happiness arises, in the first place, from the enjoyment of one's self, and in the next, from the friendship and conversation of a few select companions. ______________ Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. ______________ Better to die ten thousand deaths than wound my honor. ______________ The post of honor is a private station. ______________ If we hope for what we are not likely to possess, we act and think in vain, and make life a greater dream and shadow than it really is. ______________ Mirth is like a flash of lightning, that breaks through a gloom of clouds, and glitters for a moment; cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind, and fills it with a steady and perpetual serenity. ______________