We are always doing something for Posterity, but I would fain see Posterity do something for us.

Joseph Addison · The source reads: “We are always doing, says he, something for Posterity, but I would fain see Posterity do something for us.” · The Spectator, 583 [August 20, 1714]

What pity is it That we can die but once to serve our country!

Joseph Addison · Cato, IV, iv

See in what peace a Christian can die.

Joseph Addison · Dying words, 1719

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.

Joseph Addison · The Spectator, 381 [May 17, 1712]

More Funny Quotes

The public appears disposed to be amused even when they are conscious of being deceived.

Phineas T. Barnum · The Life of P. T. Barnum: Written by Himself (1855)

Satire is what closes Saturday night.

George S. Kaufman

Ah, the first day you are on the ship you won’t be feeling very well. The second day you will be feeling better. The third day you will meet a pretty girl and then you will be nearly there.

Winston Churchill · Recorded in Martin Gilbert, 1932

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“We are always doing something for Posterity, but I would fain see Posterity do something for us.”

“What pity is it That we can die but once to serve our country!”

“See in what peace a Christian can die.”

“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.”

“The public appears disposed to be amused even when they are conscious of being deceived.”

“Satire is what closes Saturday night.”

“Ah, the first day you are on the ship you won’t be feeling very well. The second day you will be feeling better. The third day you will meet a pretty girl and then you will be nearly there.”