Polished brass will pass upon more people than rough gold. Lord Chesterfield More Quotes by Lord Chesterfield More Quotes From Lord Chesterfield 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. Lord Chesterfield breeding dignity ill Few fathers care much for their sons, or at least, most of them care more for their money. Of those who really love their sons, few know how to do it. Lord Chesterfield family father son Remember, that when I speak of pleasures I always mean the elegant pleasures of a rational being, and not the brutal ones of a swine. I mean la bonne chère, short of gluttony; wine, infinitely short of drunkenness; play, without the least gaming; and gallantry, without debauchery. Lord Chesterfield wine play mean We are really so prejudiced by our educations, that, as the ancients deified their heroes, we deify their madmen. Lord Chesterfield madmen prejudice hero Awkwardness is a more real disadvantage than it is generally thought to be; it often occasions ridicule, it always lessens dignity. Lord Chesterfield disadvantages dignity real I recommend to you to take care of the minutes; for hours will take care of themselves. I am very sure, that many people lose two or three hours every day, by not taking care of the minutes. Lord Chesterfield three two people Love has been not unaptly compared to the small-pox, which most people have sooner or later. Lord Chesterfield pox love people I am not of the opinion generally entertained in this country [England], that man lives by Greek and Latin alone; that is, by knowing a great many words of two dead languages, which nobody living knows perfectly, and which are of no use in the common intercourse of life. Useful knowledge, in my opinion, consists of modern languages, history, and geography; some Latin may be thrown into the bargain, in compliance with custom, and for closet amusement. Lord Chesterfield latin education country As kings are begotten and born like other men, it is to be presumed that they are of the human species; and perhaps, had they thesame education, they might prove like other men. But, flattered from their cradles, their hearts are corrupted, and their heads are turned, so that they seem to be a species by themselves.... Flattery cannot be too strong for them; drunk with it from their infancy, like old drinkers, they require dreams. Lord Chesterfield strong kings dream Nothing convinces persons of a weak understanding so effectually, as what they do not comprehend. Lord Chesterfield understanding ignorance weak Let this be one invariable rule of your conduct--never to show the least symptom of resentment, which you cannot, to a certain degree, gratify; but always to smile, where you cannot strike. Lord Chesterfield smile degrees patience Knowledge of the world in only to be acquired in the world, and not in a closet. Lord Chesterfield education world knowledge Choose your pleasures for yourself, and do not let them be imposed upon you. Lord Chesterfield pleasure Politicians neither love nor hate. Interest, not sentiment, directs them. Lord Chesterfield politics political hate To this principle of vanity, which philosophers call a mean one, and which I do not, I owe a great part of the figure which I have made in life. Lord Chesterfield vanity principles mean 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. Lord Chesterfield prettiness justify turns A man must have a good share of wit himself to endure a great share in another. Lord Chesterfield endure share men Second-rate knowledge, and middling talents, carry a man farther at courts, and in the busy part of the world, than superior knowledge and shining parts. Lord Chesterfield shining men knowledge Those who see and observe kings, heroes, and statesmen, discover that they have headaches, indigestion, humors and passions, just like other people; every one of which in their turns determine their wills in defiance of their reason. Lord Chesterfield passion kings hero It is commonly said that ridicule is the best test of truth; for that it will not stick where it is not just. I deny it. A truth learned in a certain light, and attacked in certain words, by men of wit and humor, may, and often doth, become ridiculous, at least so far, that the truth is only remembered and repeated for the sake of the ridicule. Lord Chesterfield light may men
