A person terrified with the imagination of spectres, is more reasonable than one who thinks the appearance of spirits fabulous and groundless. – Joseph Addison
Our friends dont see our faults, or conceal them, or soften them. – Joseph Addison
Prejudice and self-sufficiency naturally proceed from inexperience of the world, and ignorance of mankind. – Joseph Addison
A cloudy day or a little sunshine have as great an influence on many constitutions as the most recent blessings or misfortunes. – Joseph Addison
As surely as you are a living man, so surely did that spectral anatomy visit my room again last night, grin in my face, and walk away with my trousers: nor was I able to spring from my bed, or break the chain which seemed to bind me to my pillow. – Thomas Ingoldsby, “The Spectre of Tappington,” 1837
Whatever its origin, a belief in spirits seems to have been common to all the nations of the ancient world who have left us any record of themselves. Ghosts began to walk early, and are walking still, in spite of the shrill cock-crow of wir haben ja aufgeklärt. – James Russell Lowell, “Witchcraft”