Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

Without some dissimulation no business can be carried on at all.

The herd of mankind can hardly be said to think; their notions are almost all adoptive; and, in general, I believe it is better that it should be so; as such common prejudices contribute more to order and quiet, than their own separate …

A strong mind sees things in their true proportions; a weak one views them through a magnifying medium, which, like the microscope, makes an elephant of a flea: magnifies all little objects, but cannot receive great ones.

Little minds mistake little objects for great ones, and lavish away upon the former that time and attention which only the latter deserve. To such mistakes we owe the numerous and frivolous tribe of insect-mongers, shell-mongers, and …

Women who are either indisputably beautiful, or indisputably ugly, are best flattered upon the score of their understandings; but those who are in a state of mediocrity are best flattered upon their beauty, or at least their graces; for …

Manners must adorn knowledge, and smooth its way through the world. Like a great rough diamond, it may do very well in a closet by way of curiosity, and also for its intrinsic value.

The characteristic of a well-bred man is, to converse with his inferiors without insolence, and with his superiors with respect and with ease.

I am sure that since I have had the full use of my reason, nobody has ever heard me laugh.

In my mind, there is nothing so illiberal and so ill-bred, as audible laughter.

Sacrifice to the Graces.

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 pull it out and strike it; merely to show that you have one.

Speak of the moderns without contempt, and of the ancients without idolatry.

Advice is seldom welcome; and those who want it the most always like it the least.

I recommend you to take care of the minutes: for hours will take care of themselves.

The young leading the young, is like the blind leading the blind; “they will both fall into the ditch.”

I knew once a very covetous, sordid fellow, who used to say, "Take care of the pence, for the pounds will take care of themselves."

Take the tone of the company you are in.

Do as you would be done by, is the surest method of pleasing.

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.

Courts and camps are the only places to learn the world in.

I really know nothing more criminal, more mean, and more ridiculous than lying. It is the production either of malice, cowardice, or vanity; and generally misses of its aim in every one of these views; for lies are always detected, sooner …

There is time enough for everything, in the course of the day, if you do but one thing at once; but there is not time enough in the year, if you will do two things at a time.

An injury is much sooner forgotten than an insult.

The knowledge of the world is only to be acquired in the world, and not in a closet.