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Quote#Speech

It is a great advantage for any man to be able to talk or hear,…

Quote byPhilip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield · 1694–1773

Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman (1774), 11 May 1752.

English (original)

It is a great advantage for any man to be able to talk or hear, neither ignorantly nor absurdly, upon any subject; for I have known people, who have not said one word, hear ignorantly and absurdly; it has appeared by their inattentive and unmeaning faces.

— Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

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