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| Lord Chesterfield
A constant smirk upon the face, and a whiffing activity of the body, are strong indications of futility. A man of sense only trifles with them, plays with them, humors and flatters them, as he does with a sprightly and forward child; but he neither consults them about, nor trusts them with, serious matters. A weak mind is like a microscope, which magnifies trifling things, but cannot receive great ones. An injury is much sooner forgotten than an insult. Any affectation whatsoever in dress implies, in my mind, a flaw in the understanding. 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. Be wiser than other people if you can; but do not tell them so. 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. Distrust all those who love you extremely upon a very slight acquaintance and without any visible reason. Good breeding is the result of good sense, some good nature, and a little self-denial for the sake of others. Horse-play, romping, frequent and loud fits of laughter, jokes, and indiscriminate familiarity, will sink both merit and knowledge into a degree of contempt. They compose at most a merry fellow; and a merry fellow was never yet a respectable man. I am convinced that a light supper, a good night's sleep, and a fine morning, have sometimes made a hero of the same man, who, by an indigestion, a restless night, and rainy morning, would have proved a coward. I am very sure that any man of common understanding may, by culture, care, attention, and labor, make himself what- ever he pleases, except a great poet. I look upon indolence as a sort of suicide; for the man is effectually destroyed, though the appetites of the brute may survive. I recommend you to take care of the minutes, for the hours will take care of themselves. If ever a man and his wife, or a man and his mistress, who pass nights as well as days together, absolutely lay aside all good breeding, their intimacy will soon degenerate into a coarse familiarity, infallibly productive of contempt or disgust. If you are not in fashion, you are nobody. In my mind, there is nothing so illiberal and so ill bred as audible laughter. In seeking wisdom thou art wise; in imagining that thou hast attained it - thou art a fool.Knowledge of the world in only to be acquired in the world, and not in a closet. Let them show me a cottage where there are not the same vices of which they accuse the courts. Men, as well as women, are much oftener led by their hearts than by their understandings. Modesty is the only sure bait when you angle for praise. 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. Never seem more learned than the people you are with. Wear your learning like a pocket watch and keep it hidden. Do not pull it out to count the hours, but give the time when you are asked. 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. Our own self-love draws a thick veil between us and our faults. Patience is the most necessary quality for business, many a man would rather you heard his story than grant his request. Pleasure is a necessary reciprocal. No one feels, who does not at the same time give it. To be pleased, one must please. What pleases you in others, will in general please them in you. Take care of the minutes, for the hours will take care of themselves. 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. 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. The knowledge of the world is only to be acquired in the world, and not in a closet. The only solid and lasting peace between a man and his wife is, doubtless, a separation. The scholar without good breeding is a nitpicker; the philosopher a cynic; the soldier a brute and everyone else disagreeable. The world is a country which nobody ever yet knew by description; one must travel through it one's self to be acquainted with it. 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. When a person is in fashion, all they do is right. Whoever is in a hurry shows that the thing he is about is too big for him. Wit is so shining a quality that everybody admires it; most people aim at it, all people fear it, and few love it unless in themselves. A man must have a good share of wit himself to endure a great share of it in another. You must embrace the man you hate, if you cannot be justified in knocking him down. Young men are apt to think themselves wise enough, as drunken men are apt to think themselves sober enough. |
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