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...
mistake wife found
To take a wife merely as an agreeable and rational companion, will commonly be found to be a grand mistake.
men share endure
A man must have a good share of wit himself to endure a great share in another.
choose dead
Tyrawley and I have been dead these two years; but we don't choose to have it known.
learning merely private pull strike wear
Wear your learning like your watch, in a private pocket; and do not pull it out and strike it merely to show that you have one
british-statesman learning merely private pull strike wear
Wear your learning like your watch, in a private pocket; and do not pull it out, and strike it, merely to show that you have one.
asked learning merely proclaim pull watch wear
Wear your learning like a watch and do not pull it out merely to show you have it. If you are asked for the time, tell it; but do not proclaim it hourly unasked.
anyone heard hold order people tongue unwilling
Never hold anyone by the button, or the hand, in order to be heard out; for if people are unwilling to hear you, you had better hold your tongue than them
british-statesman count learned learning people pocket pull seem time watch wear
Never seem more learned than the people you are with. Wear your learning like a pocket watch and keep it hidden. Do not pull it out to count the hours, but give the time when you are asked.
care hours time-and-time-management
Take care in your minutes, and the hours will take care of themselves.
company tone
Take the tone of the company that you are in
ask care doubts drop experience fellow five form given grand great implies lived matter possibly rules sort suspicion thirty together twenty veteran wherever woman women word
There is a sort of veteran woman of condition, who, having lived always in the grand monde, and having possibly had some gallantries, together with the experience of five and twenty or thirty years, form a young fellow better than all the rules that can be given him. Wherever you go, make some of those women your friends; which a very little matter will do. Ask their advice, tell them your doubts or difficulties as to your behavior; but take great care not to drop one word of their experience; for experience implies age, and the suspicion of age, no woman, let her be ever so old, ever forgives.
dirt dress presented words
Words are the dress of thoughts; which should no more be presented in rags, tatters, and dirt than your person should
half imitation
We are, in truth, more than half of what we are by imitation
british-statesman days frequently wiser
In those days he was wiser than he is now - he used frequently to take my advice.