Let your enemies be disarmed by the gentleness of your manner, but at the same time let them feel, the steadiness of your resentment.
— Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
Any affectation whatsoever in dress implies, in my mind, a flaw in the understanding.
To have frequent recourse to narrative betrays great want of imagination.
In matters of religion and matrimony I never give any advice; because I will not have anybody's torments in this world or the next laid to my charge.
Politicians neither love nor hate. Interest, not sentiment, directs them.
Aim at perfection in everything, though in most things it is unattainable. However, they who aim at it, and persevere, will come much nearer to it than those whose laziness and despondency make them give it up as unattainable.
I sometimes give myself admirable advice, but I am incapable of taking it.
The mere brute pleasure of reading - the sort of pleasure a cow must have in grazing.
Be wiser than other people if you can, but do not tell them so.
Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination: never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.
Good humor is the health of the soul, sadness is its poison.
Sex: the pleasure is momentary, the position ridiculous, and the expense damnable.
If you are not in fashion, you are nobody.
Our own self-love draws a thick veil between us and our faults.
Custom has made dancing sometimes necessary for a young man; therefore mind it while you learn it, that you may learn to do it well, and not be ridiculous, though in a ridiculous act.
Good breeding is the result of good sense, some good nature, and a little self-denial for the sake of others.
The only solid and lasting peace between a man and his wife is, doubtless, a separation.
You must look into people as well as at them.
Every man becomes, to a certain degree, what the people he generally converses with are.
Being pretty on the inside means you don't hit your brother and you eat all your peas - that's what my grandma taught me.
In those days he was wiser than he is now - he used frequently to take my advice.
Remember, as long as you live, that nothing but strict truth can carry you through the world, with either your conscience or your honor unwounded.
Whoever is in a hurry shows that the thing he is about is too big for him.
Distrust all those who love you extremely upon a very slight acquaintance and without any visible reason.
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.
Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well.
The difference between a man of sense and a fop is that the fop values himself upon his dress; and the man of sense laughs at it, at the same time he knows he must not neglect it.
As fathers commonly go, it is seldom a misfortune to be fatherless; and considering the general run of sons, as seldom a misfortune to be childless.
The heart never grows better by age; I fear rather worse, always harder. A young liar will be an old one, and a young knave will only be a greater knave as he grows older.
Never seem wiser, nor more learned, than the people you are with. Wear your learning, like your watch, in a private pocket: and do not merely pull it out and strike it; merely to show that you have one.
If you can once engage people's pride, love, pity, ambition on your side, you need not fear what their reason can do against you.
Hear one side and you will be in the dark. Hear both and all will be clear.
A novel must be exceptionally good to live as long as the average cat.
In seeking wisdom thou art wise; in imagining that thou hast attained it - thou art a fool.
Swift speedy time, feathered with flying hours, Dissolves the beauty of the fairest brow.
Regularity in the hours of rising and retiring, perseverance in exercise, adaptation of dress to the variations of climate, simple and nutritious aliment, and temperance in all things are necessary branches of the regimen of health.
I recommend you to take care of the minutes, for the hours will take care of themselves.
An injury is much sooner forgotten than an insult.
