Richard Steele Quotes: Sources, Meanings & Themes
Browse quotations by Richard Steele with named works, context notes, meanings and recurring themes.
Source identified1
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“But esteem rises from a higher source, the merit of the soul.”
Meaning & context
Indiana distinguishes esteem from surface attraction by grounding lasting regard in inward character rather than external advantages.
Source details
The Conscious Lovers, represented in Project Gutenberg #55922, Indiana speaking to Bevil Jr. The play was first performed and published in 1722. The sentence is fictional character dialogue and is therefore preserved under Indiana’s local dramatic voice rather than flattened into Steele autobiography.
Source identified2
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“I can't but admire Sable's nice discerning on the superfluous cares of mankind, that could lead them to the thought of raising an estate by providing horses, equipage, and furniture, for those that no longer need 'em.”
Meaning & context
Campley mocks the elaborate spending attached to funerals, pointing out the absurdity of building a business around material provisions for people who can no longer use them.
Source details
The Funeral; or, Grief à-la-Mode, represented in Project Gutenberg #55922, Campley speaking in the Covent Garden scene. The first edition was published in 1702 (dated publication in late 1701). This is satirical dramatic character speech, not Steele autobiographical testimony.
Source identified3
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“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.”
Meaning & context
Regular reading is compared with physical exercise because repeated intellectual use can strengthen attention, knowledge, and mental capacity over time.
Source details
The Tatler No. 147; the comparison presents reading as a form of regular exercise for the mind.
