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...
gratitude imperfect burden
Gratitude is a burden upon our imperfect nature.
letters easy natural
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.
mind laziness weak
Idleness is only the refuge of weak minds.
philosophy pedants philosopher
The scholar without good breeding is a pedant; the philosopher, a cynic.
education teaching thinking
One should always think of what one is about; when one is learning, one should not think of play; and when one is at play, one should not think of learning.
happiness attitude latin
I knew a gentleman who was so good a manager of his time that he would not even lose that small portion of it which the calls of nature obliged him to pass in the necessary-house; but gradually went through all the Latin poets in those moments.
wife mistress prejudice
Our prejudices are our mistresses; reason is at best our wife, very often heard indeed, but seldom minded.
giving chairs last-words
Give Dayrolles a chair.
leadership reflection knowing
The rulers of the earth are all worth knowing; they suggest moral reflections: and the respect that one naturally has for God's vice-regents here on earth is greatly increased by acquaintance with them.
character pride gay
You must be respectful and assenting, but without being servile and abject. You must be frank, but without indiscretion, and close, without being costive. You must keep up dignity of character, without the least pride of birth, or rank. You must be gay, within all the bounds of decency and respect; and grave, without the affectation of wisdom, which does not become the age of twenty. You must be essentially secret, without being dark and mysterious. You must be firm, and even bold, but with great seeming modesty.
character men greed
Cardinal Mazarin was a great knave, but no great man; much more cunning than able; scandalously false and dirtily greedy.
character son two
Anne of Austria (with great submission to a Crowned Head do I say it) was a B----. She had spirit and courage without parts, devotion without common morality, and lewdness without tenderness either to justify or to dignify it. Her two sons were no more Lewis the Thirteen's than they were mine.
gossip talent persuasion
The talent of insinuation is more useful than that of persuasion, as everybody is open to insinuation, but scarce any to persuasion.
time enemy resentment
Let your enemies be disarmed by the gentleness of your manner, but at the same time let them feel, the steadiness of your resentment.