William Temple
Biography
(1628-1699)
Essays by William Temple
I never thought it would have befallen me to be the first that should try a new experiment, any more than be the author of any new invention: being little inclined to practise upon others, and as little that others should practise upon me.
It is unreasonable that I should give fortune so a great a space in my thoughts, while she gives me so small an one in hers.
The first ingredient in conversation is truth, the next good sense, the third good humour, and the fourth wit.
I know not what it is makes me so prone to this posture of musing, which is between melancholy fits and those doting visions that use to rock men asleep whose souls or bodies are distempered with disease or passion.
Patrick Madden's New Book
Quotidiana site founder Patrick Madden has just published a book of his own personal essays, including pieces formerly published in the Best American Spiritual Writing and Best Creative Nonfiction anthologies.
If you enjoy the classical essays on this site, you'll enjoy these contemporary ruminations as well. Soon there'll be a web page here with further information, but for now, you can find out more (and perhaps purchase a copy) at Amazon.com .
"Patrick Madden is an essayist of verve, passion, wit, and dependable moral compass. Quotidiana drew me in powerfully, from page to page and from pleasure to pleasure." —Ian Frazier
2011 Symposium on the Essay
Friend of Quotidiana Kim Dana Kupperman 's Welcome Table Press is hosting a one-day symposium at Fordham University on Saturday, October 15th, 2011.
In Praise of the Essay: Practice & Form will feature talks and discussions by Phillip Lopate, Robin Hemley, Barbara Hurd, and more.
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Essayists
Alphabetical
Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)
Bacon, Francis (1561-1626)
Barbellion, W. N. P. (1889-1919)
Belloc, Hilaire (1870-1953)
Benson, Arthur (1862-1925)
Bird, Isabella (1831-1904)
Bly, Nellie (1864-1922)
Browne, Thomas (1605-1682)
Burney, Fanny (1752-1840)
Cavendish, Margaret (1623-1673)
Chesterton, G. K. (1874-1936)
Chudleigh, Mary (1656-1710)
Clinton, Elizabeth (1575-1638)
Colton, Charles (1780-1832)
Cooper, Anna Julia (1858-1964)
Cooper, Susan Fenimore (1813-1894)
Cornwallis, William (1579-1614)
Cowley, Abraham (1618-1667)
Cowper, William (1731-1800)
Culpeper, Thomas (1626-1697)
De Quincey, Thomas (1785-1859)
Edgeworth, Maria (1767-1849)
Eliot, T. S. (1888-1965)
Emerson, Ralph Waldo (1803-1882)
Far, Sui Sin (1865-1914)
Felltham, Owen (1602-1668)
Freud, Sigmund (1856-1939)
Fuller, Margaret (1810-1850)
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins (1860-1935)
Goldsmith, Oliver (1735-1774)
Guiney, Louise Imogen (1861-1920)
Hamilton, Gail (1838-1896)
Harrison, Jane Ellen (1850-1928)
Haywood, Eliza (1693-1756)
Hazlitt, William (1778-1830)
Howell, James (1594-1666)
Howells, William Dean (1837-1920)
Hume, David (1711-1776)
Hunt, Leigh (1784-1859)
Huxley, Thomas Henry (1825-1895)
Hyde, Edward (1609-1674)
Jacks, L. P. (1860-1955)
Jacobs, Harriet (1813-1897)
Jerome, Jerome K. (1859-1927)
Johnson, Samuel (1709-1784)
Kenko, Yoshida (1283-1350)
Kirkland, Caroline (1801-1864)
Lamb, Charles (1775-1834)
Landor, Walter Savage (1775-1864)
Lee, Vernon (1856-1935)
Marquis, Don (1878-1937)
Martin, Edward Sanford (1856-1939)
Martineau, Harriet (1802-1876)
Meynell, Alice (1847-1922)
Milne, A. A. (1882-1956)
Montaigne, Michel de (1533-1592)
More, Hannah (1745-1833)
Morley, Christopher (1890-1957)
Morris, Elisabeth (1870-1964)
Osler, William (1849-1919)
Plato, Ann (1820-?)
Repplier, Agnes (1855-1950)
Seneca, Lucius Annaeus (4-65)
Smith, Alexander (1830-1867)
Steele, Richard (1672-1729)
Stein, Edith (1891-1942)
Stevenson, Robert Louis (1850-1894)
Swift, Jonathan (1667-1745)
Temple, William (1628-1699)
Tomlinson, H. M. (1873-1958)
Twain, Mark (1835-1910)
Wollstonecraft, Mary (1759-1797)
Zitkala-Ša (1876-1938)
Chronological
Seneca, Lucius Annaeus (4-65)
Kenko, Yoshida (1283-1350)
Montaigne, Michel de (1533-1592)
Bacon, Francis (1561-1626)
Clinton, Elizabeth (1575-1638)
Cornwallis, William (1579-1614)
Howell, James (1594-1666)
Felltham, Owen (1602-1668)
Browne, Thomas (1605-1682)
Hyde, Edward (1609-1674)
Cowley, Abraham (1618-1667)
Cavendish, Margaret (1623-1673)
Culpeper, Thomas (1626-1697)
Temple, William (1628-1699)
Chudleigh, Mary (1656-1710)
Swift, Jonathan (1667-1745)
Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)
Steele, Richard (1672-1729)
Haywood, Eliza (1693-1756)
Johnson, Samuel (1709-1784)
Hume, David (1711-1776)
Cowper, William (1731-1800)
Goldsmith, Oliver (1735-1774)
More, Hannah (1745-1833)
Burney, Fanny (1752-1840)
Wollstonecraft, Mary (1759-1797)
Edgeworth, Maria (1767-1849)
Lamb, Charles (1775-1834)
Landor, Walter Savage (1775-1864)
Hazlitt, William (1778-1830)
Colton, Charles (1780-1832)
Hunt, Leigh (1784-1859)
De Quincey, Thomas (1785-1859)
Kirkland, Caroline (1801-1864)
Martineau, Harriet (1802-1876)
Emerson, Ralph Waldo (1803-1882)
Fuller, Margaret (1810-1850)
Cooper, Susan Fenimore (1813-1894)
Jacobs, Harriet (1813-1897)
Plato, Ann (1820-?)
Huxley, Thomas Henry (1825-1895)
Smith, Alexander (1830-1867)
Bird, Isabella (1831-1904)
Twain, Mark (1835-1910)
Howells, William Dean (1837-1920)
Hamilton, Gail (1838-1896)
Meynell, Alice (1847-1922)
Osler, William (1849-1919)
Harrison, Jane Ellen (1850-1928)
Stevenson, Robert Louis (1850-1894)
Repplier, Agnes (1855-1950)
Freud, Sigmund (1856-1939)
Lee, Vernon (1856-1935)
Martin, Edward Sanford (1856-1939)
Cooper, Anna Julia (1858-1964)
Jerome, Jerome K. (1859-1927)
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins (1860-1935)
Jacks, L. P. (1860-1955)
Guiney, Louise Imogen (1861-1920)
Benson, Arthur (1862-1925)
Bly, Nellie (1864-1922)
Far, Sui Sin (1865-1914)
Belloc, Hilaire (1870-1953)
Morris, Elisabeth (1870-1964)
Tomlinson, H. M. (1873-1958)
Chesterton, G. K. (1874-1936)
Zitkala-Ša (1876-1938)
Marquis, Don (1878-1937)
Milne, A. A. (1882-1956)
Eliot, T. S. (1888-1965)
Barbellion, W. N. P. (1889-1919)
Morley, Christopher (1890-1957)
Stein, Edith (1891-1942)
Women
Bird, Isabella (1831-1904) Bly, Nellie (1864-1922) Burney, Fanny (1752-1840) Cavendish, Margaret (1623-1673) Chudleigh, Mary (1656-1710) Clinton, Elizabeth (1575-1638) Cooper, Anna Julia (1858-1964) Cooper, Susan Fenimore (1813-1894) Edgeworth, Maria (1767-1849) Far, Sui Sin (1865-1914) Fuller, Margaret (1810-1850) Gilman, Charlotte Perkins (1860-1935) Guiney, Louise Imogen (1861-1920) Hamilton, Gail (1838-1896) Harrison, Jane Ellen (1850-1928) Haywood, Eliza (1693-1756) Jacobs, Harriet (1813-1897) Kirkland, Caroline (1801-1864) Lee, Vernon (1856-1935) Martineau, Harriet (1802-1876) Meynell, Alice (1847-1922) More, Hannah (1745-1833) Morris, Elisabeth (1870-1964) Plato, Ann (1820-?) Repplier, Agnes (1855-1950) Stein, Edith (1891-1942) Wollstonecraft, Mary (1759-1797) Zitkala-Ša (1876-1938)
Essays
by William Temple
An essay upon the cure of the gout
Heads designed for an essay on conversations
On fortune
On thoughts