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...
abound anger feeling forgiveness forgiving incapable minds pleasure vicious
Little, vicious minds abound with anger and revenge, and are incapable of feeling the pleasure of forgiving their enemies.
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.
confused facts heap history
History is only a confused heap of facts
fools holiday idleness refuge weak
Idleness is the only refuge of weak minds, and the holiday of fools
acquired knowledge
Knowledge of the world is only to be acquired in the world, and not in a closet.
answering concerned letters politeness reasonable returning within
Politeness is as much concerned in answering letters within a reasonable time, as it is in returning a bow, immediately.
respectable ifs
You must be respectable, if you will be respected.
turns justify maxims
Most maxim-mongers have preferred the prettiness to the justness of a thought, and the turn to the truth; but I have refused myself to everything that my own experience did not justify and confirm.
inferiority your-best-friend enjoy
Inferiority is what you enjoy in your best friends.
good-man return manners
Good manners are the settled medium of social, as specie is of commercial, life; returns are equally expected for both.
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.
pockets watches like-you
Wear your knowledge like your watch - in you pocket - and don't pull it out just for show.
mankind
To govern mankind, one must not overrate them.
scandal thieves cases
In the case of scandal, as in that of robbery, the receiver is always thought as bad as the thief.