Daily Inspiration Quote by Richard Steele

Steele’s line is an elegant compliment with a trapdoor underneath it. On the surface, it flatters the reader’s better angels: don’t crave applause from just anyone; value the verdict of people whose judgment actually counts. But the sentence is also a social technology, built for the coffeehouse world Steele helped define - a culture of reputation, clubs, and printed opinion where “character” was currency and praise was a kind of public credit.

The key word is “Praiseworthy,” which does double duty. It sets a standard for the person giving praise (they must be virtuous, discerning) while quietly implying a standard for the person receiving it (you must have done something that survives serious scrutiny). Steele is moralizing, yes, but he’s also managing status. “There is no Pleasure like...” frames approval as the highest indulgence, then launders that indulgence through ethics: it’s fine to enjoy praise, provided it comes from the right people. Vanity gets rebranded as good taste.

In early 18th-century Britain - a society increasingly shaped by periodicals, polite sociability, and anxieties about hypocrisy - this is a neat antidote to cheap clout. Steele, as a dramatist and essayist, knew how easily public applause could be bought, faked, or simply given by a crowd that wanted spectacle. He proposes a hierarchy of audiences: the worthiest spectator is the one who can’t be easily impressed. The subtext is disciplinary: seek out harder judges, and you’ll behave better.