Lord Chesterfield
Lord Chesterfield
Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield KG PCwas a British statesman, and a man of letters, and wit. He was born in London to Philip Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Chesterfield, and Lady Elizabeth Savile, and known as Lord Stanhope until the death of his father, in 1726. Educated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, he subsequently embarked on the Grand Tour of the Continent, to complete his education as a nobleman, by exposure to the cultural legacies of Classical antiquity and...
inspirational children best-of-the-best
Always make the best of the best, and never make bad worse.
strong anger indifference
Whoever incites anger has a strong insurance against indifference.
tests ridicule
Ridicule is the best test of truth.
would-be done method
Do as you would be done by, is the surest method of pleasing.
laughter mind ill
In my mind, there is nothing so illiberal, and so ill-bred, as audible laughter.
doe procrastinating can-do
It is an undoubted truth, that the less one has to do, the less time one finds to do it in. One yawns, one procrastinates, one can do it when one will, and therefore one seldom does it at all.
people bears civility
People will no more advance their civility to a bear, than their money to a bankrupt.
errors honest
Honest error is to be pitied not ridiculed.
lying mean vanity
I really know nothing more criminal, more mean, and more ridiculous than lying. It is the production either of malice, cowardice, or vanity; and generally misses of its aim in every one of these views; for lies are always detected, sooner or later.
mind half purpose
Whatever you do, do it to the purpose; do it thoroughly, not superficially. Go to the bottom of things. Any thing half done, or half known, is in my mind, neither done nor known at all. Nay, worse, for it often misleads.
pleasure
Choose your pleasures for yourself, and do not let them be imposed upon you.
scandal thieves cases
In the case of scandal, as in that of robbery, the receiver is always thought as bad as the thief.
character hands greed
Keep your hands clean and pure from the infamous vice of corruption, a vice so infamous that it degrades even the other vices thatmay accompany it. Accept no present whatever; let your character in that respect be transparent and without the least speck, for as avarice is the vilest and dirtiest vice in private, corruption is so in public life.
ugly flattery enough
Nature has hardly formed a woman ugly enough to be insensible to flattery upon her person.