I am sure that since I have had the full use of my reason, nobody has heard me laugh.
—Earl of Chesterfield
Topics: Laughter
The young leading the young, is like the blind leading the blind; they will both fall into the ditch.
—Earl of Chesterfield
Pleasure is a reciprocal; no one feels it who does not at the same time give it. To be pleased, one must please.
—Earl of Chesterfield
Topics: Helpfulness, Goodwill, Giving, Kindness, Happiness, Service
In my mind, there is nothing so illiberal and so ill-bred, as audible laughter.
—Earl of Chesterfield
Topics: Laughter
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.
—Earl of Chesterfield
Topics: The Mind
We read every day with astonishment, things which we see everyday without surprise.
—Earl of Chesterfield
Wise people may say what they will, but one passion is never cured by another.
—Earl of Chesterfield
Topics: Wisdom
There is hardly any place or any company where you may not gain knowledge, if you please; almost everybody know some one thing, and is glad to talk about that one thing.
—Earl of Chesterfield
Topics: Knowledge
Ceremony is necessary as the outwork and defense of manners.
—Earl of Chesterfield
Topics: Manners, Defense
All ceremonies are, in themselves, very silly things; but yet a man of the world should know them. — They are the outworks of manners and decency, which would too often be broken in upon, if it were not for that defence which keeps the enemy at a proper distance.
—Earl of Chesterfield
Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness; no laziness; no procrastination; never put off till to-morrow what you can do to-day.
—Earl of Chesterfield
Topics: Procrastination, The Present, Honesty, Time Management, Time, Punctuality, Truth
Can an author with reason complain that he is cramped and shackled if he is not at liberty to publish blasphemy, bawdry, or sedition?; all of which are equally prohibited in the freest governments, if they are wise and well-regulated ones.
—Earl of Chesterfield
Topics: Authors & Writing
Learning is acquired by reading books, but the much more necessary learning, the knowledge of the world, is only to be acquired by reading men, and studying all the various facets of them.
—Earl of Chesterfield
Topics: Learning, Knowledge
Persist and persevere, and you will find most things that are attainable, possible.
—Earl of Chesterfield
Topics: Perseverance, Persistence
Prepare yourself for the world, as the athletes used to do for their exercise; oil your mind and your manners, to give them the necessary suppleness and flexibility; strength alone will not do.
—Earl of Chesterfield
Topics: Manners
A man who owes a little can clear it off in a little time, and, if he is prudent, he will: whereas a man, who, by long negligence, owes a great deal, despairs of ever being able to pay, and therefore never looks into his accounts at all.
—Earl of Chesterfield
Topics: Debt
Mutual comulaisances, attentions, and sacrifices of little conveniences, are as natural an implied compact between civilized people, as protection and obedience are between kings and subjects; whoever, in either case, violates that compact, justly forfeits all advantages arising from it.
—Earl of Chesterfield
Loud laughter is the mirth of the mob, who are only pleased with silly things; for true Wit or good Sense never excited a laugh since the creation of the world. A man of parts and fashion is therefore often seen to smile, but never heard to laugh.
—Earl of Chesterfield
Topics: Laughter
Speak of the moderns without contempt, and of the ancients without idolatry.
—Earl of Chesterfield
Topics: Books, Literature
Great talents, such as honor, virtue, learning, and parts, are above the generality of the world, who neither possess them themselves, nor judge of them rightly in others; but all people are judges of the lesser talents, such as civility, affability, and an obliging, agreeable address and manner, because they feel the good effects of them, as making society easy and pleasing.
—Earl of Chesterfield
Topics: Talent
Let dull critics feed upon the carcases of plays; give me the taste and the dressing.
—Earl of Chesterfield
I recommend you to take care of the minutes, for the hours will take care of themselves.
—Earl of Chesterfield
Distrust all those who love you extremely upon a very slight acquaintance and without any visible reason.
—Earl of Chesterfield
Topics: Trust, Friendship
Wondering Whom to Read Next?
Beilby Porteus Bishop of London
Charles Caleb Colton English Clergyman, Aphorist
G. K. Chesterton English Journalist
Francis Bacon English Philosopher
William Wordsworth English Poet
Isaac Newton English Physicist
Arthur Conan Doyle Scottish Writer
Aldous Huxley English Humanist
John Ruskin English Art Critic
Stephen Hawking English Theoretical Physicist