Joseph Addison

“ Thirdly, he is wonderfully unlucky, insomuch that he will bite the Hand that feeds him, and endeavour to ridicule both Friends and Foes indifferently. For, having but small Talents, he must be merry where he can, not where he should. Fourthly, Being entirely void of Reason, he pursues no Point either of Morality or Instruction, but is Ludicrous only for the sake of being so. Fifthly, being incapable of anything but Mock-Representations, his Ridicule is always Personal, and aimed at the Vicious Man, or the Writer ”

“ These poor gentlemen endeavour to gain themselves the Reputation of Wits and Humorists, by such monstrous Conceits as almost qualify them for Bedlam; not considering that Humour should always lye under the Check of Reason, and that it requires the Direction of the nicest Judgment, by so much the more as it indulges it self in the most boundless Freedoms. ”

“ Since every honest Man ought to look upon himself as in a Natural State of War with the Libeller and Lampooner, and to annoy them wherever they fall in his way, this is but retaliating upon them and treating them as they treat others. ”

“ I have here only pointed at the whole Species of False Humorists, but as one of my principal Designs in this Paper is to beat down that malignant Spirit, which discovers itself in the Writings of the present Age, I shall not scruple, for the future, to single out any of the small Wits, that infest the World with such Compositions as are ill-natured, immoral and absurd. ”

“ They may likewise distinguish him by a loud and excessive Laughter, in which he seldom gets his Company to join with him. For as TRUE HUMOUR generally looks serious, whilst every Body laughs about him; FALSE HUMOUR is always laughing, whilst every Body about him looks serious. ”

“ But as this would be a very invidious Task, I shall only observe in general that FALSE HUMOUR differs from the TRUE, as a Monkey does from First of all, He is exceedingly given to little Apish Tricks and Buffooneries. ”

“ Shadwell, who had himself a great deal of the Talent which I am treating of, represents an empty Rake, in one of his Plays, as very much surprised to hear one say that breaking of Windows was not Humour; and I question not but several English Readers will be as much startled to hear me affirm, that many of those raving, incoherent Pieces, which are often spread among us, under odd Chymerical Titles, are rather the Offsprings of a distempered Brain, than Works of Humour. It is, indeed, much easier to describe what is not Humour, than what is ”