Lord Chesterfield – Page 3

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. – Lord Chesterfield

I find, by experience, that the mind and the body are more than married, for they are most intimately united and when one suffers, the other sympathizes. – Lord Chesterfield

Patience is the most necessary quality for business, many a man would rather you heard his story than grant his request. – Lord Chesterfield

Swift speedy time, feathered with flying hours, Dissolves the beauty of the fairest brow. – Lord Chesterfield

In seeking wisdom thou art wise in imagining that thou hast attained it – thou art a fool. – Lord Chesterfield

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. – Lord Chesterfield

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

Sex: the pleasure is momentary, the position ridiculous, and the expense damnable. – Lord Chesterfield

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

Patience is a most necessary qualification for business; many a man would rather you heard his story than granted his request. – Lord Chesterfield

A weak mind is like a microscope, which magnifies trifling things but cannot receive great ones. – Lord Chesterfield

Take care of the minutes, for the hours will take care of themselves. – Lord Chesterfield

Politeness is as much concerned in answering letters within a reasonable time, as it is in returning a bow, immediately. – Lord Chesterfield

Manners must adorn knowledge and smooth its way in the world, without them it is like a great rough diamond, very well in a closet by way of curiosity, and also for its intrinsic value; but most prized when polished. – Lord Chesterfield

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. – Lord Chesterfield

Physical ills are the taxes laid upon this wretched life; some are taxed higher, and some lower, but all pay something. – Lord Chesterfield

Whoever is in a hurry shows that the thing he is about is too big for him. – Lord Chesterfield

Modesty is the only sure bait when you angle for praise. – Lord Chesterfield

The value of moments, when cast up, is immense, if well employed; if thrown away, their loss is irrevocable. – Lord Chesterfield

I knew a gentleman who was so good a manager of his time that he would not even lose that small portion of it which the calls of nature obliged him to pass in the necessary-house; but gradually went through all the Latin poets in those moments. – Lord Chesterfield