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Lord Chesterfield Quotes

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Famous Lord Chesterfield Quotes

“I would rather have a young fellow too much than too little dressed; the excess on that side will wear off, with a little age and reflection; but if he is negligent at twenty, he will be a sloven at forty, and stink at fifty years old. Dress yourself fine where others are fine, and plain where others are plain; but take care always that your clothes are well made and fit you, for otherwise they will give you a very awkward air.”

IfsGivingYearsWellsLittlesMadeCareAgeYoungSidesToo MuchAirFineFitClothesReflectionTwentiesDressesFellowsTake CareFiftyFortyExcessAwkwardStinkFifty Year Olds
Book:Lord Chesterfield's Letters
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“When I reflect upon what I have seen, what I have heard, what I have done, I can hardly persuade myself that all that frivolous hurry and bustle and pleasure of the world had any reality; and I look on what has passed as one of those wild dreams which opium occasions, and I by no means wish to repeat the nauseous dose for the sake of the fugitive illusion.”

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Author:Lord Chesterfield
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“Talk often, but never long; in that case, if you do not please, at least you are sure not to tire your hearers. Pay your own reckoning, but do not treat the whole company; this being one of the few cases in which people do not care to be treated, every one being fully convinced that he has wherewithal to pay.”

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Book:Lord Chesterfield's Letters
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“Great merit or great failings will make you respected or despised; but trifles, little attentions, mere nothings, either done or neglected, will make you either liked or disliked, in the general run of the world. Examine yourself, why you like such and such people and dislike such and such others; and you will find that those different sentiments proceed from very slight causes.”

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Author:Lord Chesterfield
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“Sculpture and painting are very justly called liberal arts; a lively and strong imagination, together with a just observation, being absolutely necessary to excel in either; which, in my opinion, is by no means the case of music, though called a liberal art, and now in Italy placed even above the other two--a proof of the decline of that country.”

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Author:Lord Chesterfield
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“Conscious virtue is the only solid foundation of all happiness; for riches, power, rank, or whatever, in the common acceptation ofthe word, is supposed to constitute happiness, will never quiet, much less cure, the inward pangs of guilt.”

HappinessCommonVirtueQuietConsciousFoundationGuiltRichesCuresInwardSolid Foundation
Book:The Works of Lord Chesterfield: Including His Letters to His Son, Etc : to which is Prefixed, an Original Life of the Author
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“Of those who really love their sons, few know how to do it. Some spoil them when they are young, and then quarrel with them when they are grown up, for having been spoiled; some love them like mothers, and attend only to the bodily health and strength of the hopes of their family, solemnize his birthday, and rejoice, like the subjects of the Great Mogul, at the increase of his bulk: while others, minding, as they think, only essentials, take pains and pleasure to see in their heir, all their favourite weaknesses and imperfections.”

ThinkingKnowsLovePainYoungMotherPleasureFamilyKnow HowGrowing UpSubjectsSonEssentialsWeaknessIncreaseImperfectionRejoiceFavouriteQuarrelsSpoilSpoiledFamily LoveHeirsPain And PleasureMogulsLike A MotherHealth And Strength
Book:The Works of Lord Chesterfield: Including His Letters to His Son, Etc : to which is Prefixed, an Original Life of the Author
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“I am provoked at the contempt which most historians show for humanity in general; one would think by them, that the whole human species consisted but of about a hundred and fifty people, called and dignified (commonly very undeservedly too) by the titles of Emperors, Kings, Popes, Generals, and Ministers.”

PeopleThinkingHumansWholeShowsHumanityHistoryKingsHundredSpeciesTitlesMinistersFiftyHistorianContemptPopeEmperorHuman SpeciesProvoked
Author:Lord Chesterfield
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