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...
mean giving letters
Let your letter be written as accurately as you are able,--I mean with regard to language, grammar, and stops; for as to the matter of it the less trouble you give yourself the better it will be. Letters should be easy and natural, and convey to the persons to whom we send them just what we should say to the persons if we were with them.
dignity breeding ill
Good-breeding carries along with it a dignity that is respected by the most petulant. Ill-breeding invites and authorizes the familiarity of the most timid.
friendship connections degrees
The most familiar and intimate habitudes, connections, friendships, require a degree of good-breeding both to preserve and cement them.
friendship enmity strange
In your friendships and in your enmities let your confidence and your hostilities have certain bounds; make not the former dangerous, nor the latter irreconcilable. There are strange vicissitudes in business.
beautiful understanding ugly
Very ugly or very beautiful women should be flattered on their understanding, and mediocre ones on their beauty.
account admitted ask company considered dances deep drink esteem exclude great ideas invite joking merit merits plays respected sake sings sought whoever
Whoever is admitted or sought for, in company, upon any other account than that of his merit and manners, is never respected there, but only made use of. We will have such-a-one, for he sings prettily; we will invite such-a-one to a ball, for he dances well; we will have such-a-one at supper, for he is always joking and laughing; we will ask another because he plays deep at all games, or because he can drink a great deal. These are all vilifying distinctions, mortifying preferences, and exclude all ideas of esteem and regard. Whoever is had (as it is called) in company for the sake of any one thing singly, is singly that thing, and will never be considered in any other light; consequently never respected, let his merits be what they will.
apt men secrets trusted vanity
Women, and young men, are very apt to tell what secrets they know, from the vanity of having been trusted
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.
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.
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
half imitation
We are, in truth, more than half of what we are by imitation
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
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.
advice generally man praise wants
When a man wants your advice he generally wants your praise