Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield quotes - page 5

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, was a British statesman, diplomat, and man of letters. His famous "Letters to His Son" are celebrated for their wit and insight into manners, education, and etiquette. He became renowned for his eloquence, diplomacy, and influence on 18th-century society. Here are 176 of his quotes:

There is nothing that people bear more impatiently, or forgive less, than contempt: and an injury is much sooner forgotten than an insult. (Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield)

You must look into people as well as at them.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

The more one works, the more willing one is to work.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

The rich are always advising the poor, but the poor seldom return the compliment.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

Being pretty on the inside means you don't hit your brother and you eat all your peas - that's what my grandma taught me.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

If you are not in fashion, you are nobody.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

If you can once engage people's pride, love, pity, ambition on your side, you need not fear what their reason can do against you.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

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

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

The less one has to do, the less time one finds to do it in.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

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.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

Our own self-love draws a thick veil between us and our faults. (Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield)

Regularity in the hours of rising and retiring, perseverance in exercise, adaptation of dress to the variations of climate, simple and nutritious aliment, and temperance in all things are necessary branches of the regimen of health.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

In seeking wisdom thou art wise; in imagining that thou hast attained it - thou art a fool.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of 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.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

Any affectation whatsoever in dress implies, in my mind, a flaw in the understanding.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

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.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

Politicians neither love nor hate. Interest, not sentiment, directs them.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

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.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of 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.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

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.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

Vice, in its true light, is so deformed, that it shocks us at first sight; and would hardly ever seduce us, if it did not at first wear the mask of some virtue. (Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield)

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.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

Choose your pleasures for yourself, and do not let them be imposed upon you.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

Knowledge is a comfortable and necessary retreat and shelter for us in advanced age, and if we do not plant it while young, it will give us no shade when we grow old.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

Whatever you do, do it to the purpose; do it thoroughly, not superficially. Go to the bottom of things. Any thing half done, or half known, is in my mind, neither done nor known at all. Nay, worse, for it often misleads.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

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Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield - Image

Occupation: British Statesman
Born: September 22, 1694
Died: March 24, 1773
Quotes count: 176
Wikipedia: Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

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