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...
attention contempt due inside man proper relation
Due attention to the inside of books, and due contempt for the outside, is the proper relation between a man of sense and his books.
blind both ditch fall leading
The young leading the young, is like the blind leading the blind; ""they will both fall into the ditch
forgiven forgiveness injury insult sooner
An injury is much sooner forgiven than an insult
cannot great mind receive weak
A weak mind is like a microscope, which magnifies trifling things but cannot receive great ones
advice seldom
Advice is seldom welcome; and those who want it the most always want it the least.
alone athletes manners mind necessary oil prepare strength
Prepare yourself for the world, as the athletes used to do for their exercise; oil your mind and your manners, to give them the necessary suppleness and flexibility; strength alone will not do.
ancestry breeding brute good scholar soldier
The scholar without good breeding is a nitpicker; the philosopher a cynic; the soldier a brute and everyone else disagreeable.
literature moderns speak
Speak of the moderns without contempt, and of the ancients without idolatry.
coward fine good hero light man morning proved rainy restless
A light supper, a good night's sleep, and a fine morning have often made a hero of the same man who, by indigestion, a restless night, and a rainy morning would have proved a coward
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.
idleness till today tomorrow
No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination; never put off till tomorrow what you can do today