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It Seems To Me That Physical Sickness Softens, Just As Moral Sickness Hardens, The Heart.
-Lord Chesterfield
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It Seems To Me

Lord Chesterfield
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It Seems To Me That Physical Sickness Softens, Just As Moral Sickness Hardens, The Heart.

Understanding the Quote: "it seems to me that physical sickness softens, just as moral sickness..."

This quote by Lord Chesterfield reflects deeply on the theme of heart. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Heart, Moral, Sickness, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Lord Chesterfield interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Lord Chesterfield

Lord Chesterfield is celebrated for insightful thoughts on heart and moral. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Heart
Moral
Sickness
More From Lord Chesterfield
Little Minds Mistake Little Objects For Great Ones, And Lavish Away Upon The Former That Time And Attention Which Only The Latterdeserve. To Such Mistakes We Owe The Numerous And Frivolous Tribe Of Insect-mongers, Shell-mongers, And Pursuers And Driers Of Butterflies, Etc. The Strong Mind Distinguishes, Not Only Between The Useful And The Useless, But Likewise Between The Useful And The Curious.
Strong
Mistake
Butterfly
Half The Business Is Done, When One Has Gained The Heart And The Affections Of Those With Whom One Is To Transact It.
Heart
Done
Half
The Possibility Of Remedying Imprudent Actions Is Commonly An Inducement To Commit Them.
Motivation
Temptation
Action
The Rich Are Always Advising The Poor, But The Poor Seldom Return The Compliment.
Advice
Return
Comeback
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.
Birthday
Time
Liars
If You Will Please People, You Must Please Them In Their Own Way.
People
Way
Please
There Is Nothing So Necessary, But At The Same Time There Is Nothing More Difficult (i Know It By Experience) For You Young Fellows, Than To Know How To Behave Yourselves Prudently Towards Those Whom You Do Not Like. Your Passions Are Warm, And Your Heads Are Light; You Hate All Those Who Oppose Your Views, Either Of Ambition Or Love; And A Rival, In Either, Is Almost A Synonymous Term For Any Enemy.
Hate
Ambition
Passion
Cautiously Avoid Speaking Of The Domestic Affairs Either Of Yourself, Or Of Other People. Yours Are Nothing To Them But Tedious Gossip; And Theirs Are Nothing To You.
Family
Gossip
People
The Heart Has Such An Influence Over The Understanding, That It Is Worth While To Engage It In Our Interest.
Heart
Understanding
Influence
Gratitude Is A Burden Upon Our Imperfect Nature.
Gratitude
Imperfect
Burden
Sex: The Pleasure Is Momentary, The Position Ridiculous, And The Expense Damnable.
Witty
Sex
Ridiculous
It Is By Vivacity And Wit That Man Shines In Company; But Trite Jokes And Loud Laughter Reduce Him To A Buffoon.
Laughter
Men
Shining
Fear Manifested Invites Danger.
Anticipation
Danger
Invites
Instead Of Giving In To The Greatest Misfortune That Can Happen At My Age, Deafness, I Busy Myself In Searching Out All Possible Compensations, And I Apply Myself Much More To All The Amusements That Are Here Within My Grasp.
Giving
Age
Amusement
I Could Wish There Were A Treaty Made Between The French And The English Theatres, In Which Both Parties Should Make Considerableconcessions. The English Ought To Give Up Their Notorious Violations Of The Unities, And All Their Massacres, Racks, Dead Bodies, And Mangled Carcasses, Which They So Frequently Exhibit Upon Their Stage. The French Should Engage To Have More Action, And Less Declamation, And Not To Cram And To Crowd Things Together To Almost A Degree Of Impossibility From A Too Scrupulous Adherence To The Unities.
Giving Up
Party
Unity
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.
Kings
Thinking
People
A Certain Degree Of Fear Produces The Same Effects As Rashness.
Fear
Degrees
Produce
It Is Hard To Say Which Is The Greatest Fool: He Who Tells The Whole Truth, Or He Who Tells No Truth At All. Character Is As Necessary In Business As In Trade. No Man Can Deceive Often In Either.
Truth
Character
Men
True Politeness Is Perfect Ease And Freedom. It Simply Consists In Treating Others Just As You Love To Be Treated Yourself.
Perfect
Treating Others
Ease
The Only Sure Way Of Avoiding These Evils [vanity And Boasting] Is Never To Speak Of Yourself At All. But When, Historically, Youare Obliged To Mention Yourself, Take Care Not To Drop One Single Word That Can Directly Or Indirectly Be Construed As Fishing For Applause.
Vanity
Fishing
Evil
You Must Be Respectable, If You Will Be Respected.
Respectable
Ifs
In The Ordinary Course Of Things, How Many Succeed In Society Merely By Virtue Of Their Manners, While Others, However Meritorious, Fail Through Lack Of Them? After All, It's Only Barbarians Who Wear Uncut Precious Stones.
Success
Failure
Precious Stones
Style Is The Dress Of Thoughts, And Let Them Be Ever So Just.
Fashion
Clothes
Style
I Really Know Nothing More Criminal, More Mean, And More Ridiculous Than Lying. It Is The Production Either Of Malice, Cowardice, Or Vanity; And Generally Misses Of Its Aim In Every One Of These Views; For Lies Are Always Detected, Sooner Or Later.
Lying
Mean
Vanity
Good Humor Is The Health Of The Soul, Sadness Is Its Poison.
Sad
Depressing
Inspiration
Give Dayrolles A Chair.
Giving
Chairs
Last Words
An Ignorant Man Is Insignificant And Contemptible; Nobody Cares For His Company, And He Can Just Be Said To Live, And That Is All.
Men
Stupidity
Ignorant
I Always Put These Pert Jackanapeses Out Of Countenance By Looking Extremely Grave When They Expect That I Should Laugh At Their Pleasantries; And By Saying Well, And So?--as If They Had Not Done, And That The Sting Were Still To Come. This Disconcerts Them, As They Have No Resources In Themselves, And Have But One Set Of Jokes To Live Upon.
Laughing
Done
Resources
Take Rather Than Give The Tone To The Company You Are In. If You Have Parts You Will Show Them More Or Less Upon Every Subject; And If You Have Not, You Had Better Talk Sillily Upon A Subject Of Other People's Than Of Your Own Choosing.
Giving
People
Tone
Let Your Enemies Be Disarmed By The Gentleness Of Your Manner, But Let Them Feel At The Same Time The Steadiness Of Your Just Resentment For There Is A Great Difference Between Bearing Malice, Which Is Always Ungenerous, And A Resolute Self-defense Which Is Ever Prudent And Justifiable.
Time
Enemy
Resentment
It Is Often More Necessary To Conceal Contempt Than Resentment; The Former Is Never Forgiven, But The Later Is Sometimes Forgotten.
Resentment
Forgotten
Sometimes
To Know A Little Of Anything Gives Neither Satisfaction Nor Credit, But Often Brings Disgrace Or Ridicule.
Knowledge
Giving
Credit
Prepare Yourself For The World, As Athletes Used To Do For Their Exercises; Oil Your Mind And Your Manners, To Give Them The Necessary Suppleness And Flexibility; Strength Alone Will Not Do.
Strength
Being Strong
Athlete
I Recommend You To Take Care Of The Minutes, For The Hours Will Take Care Of Themselves.
Positive
Time
Care
Arbitrary Power Has Seldom... Been Introduced In Any Country At Once. It Must Be Introduced By Slow Degrees, And As It Were Step By Step.
Country
Power
Degrees
May You Live As Long As You Are Fit To Live, But No Longer, Or, May You Rather Die Before You Cease To Be Fit To Live Than After!
Health
Blessing
Long
Let Your Letter Be Written As Accurately As You Are Able,--i Mean With Regard To Language, Grammar, And Stops; For As To The Matter Of It The Less Trouble You Give Yourself The Better It Will Be. Letters Should Be Easy And Natural, And Convey To The Persons To Whom We Send Them Just What We Should Say To The Persons If We Were With Them.
Mean
Giving
Matter
Frequent And Loud Laughter Is The Characteristic Of Folly And Ill Manners.
Happiness
Laughter
Joy
You Must Labour To Acquire That Great And Uncommon Talent Of Hating With Good Breeding, And Loving With Prudence; To Make No Quarrel Irreconcilable By Silly And Unnecessary Indications Of Anger; And No Friendship Dangerous, In Care It Breaks, By A Wanton, Indiscreet, And Unreserved Confidence.
Love
Hate
Silly
A Weak Mind Is Like A Microscope, Which Magnifies Trifling Things But Cannot Receive Great Ones.
Education
Ignorance
Perspective
You Should Not Only Have Attention To Everything, But A Quickness Of Attention, So As To Observe At Once All The People In The Room--their Motions, Their Looks And Their Words--and Yet Without Staring At Them And Seeming To Be An Observer.
People
Rooms
Looks
Women Of Fashion And Character--i Do Not Mean Absolutely Unblemished--are A Necessary Ingredient In The Composition Of Good Company; The Attention Which They Require, And Which Is Always Paid Them By Well-bred Men, Keeps Up Politeness, And Gives A Habit Of Good-breeding; Whereas Men, When They Live Together Without The Lenitive Of Women In Company, Are Apt To Grow Careless, Negligent, And Rough Among One Another.
Fashion
Character
Mean
You Must Look Into People, As Well As At Them.
Relationship
Men
People
Dispatch Is The Soul Of Business.
Business
Soul
Physical Ills Are The Taxes Laid Upon This Wretched Life; Some Are Taxed Higher, And Some Lower, But All Pay Something.
Health
Pay
Being Sick
Absolute Power Can Only Be Supported By Error, Ignorance And Prejudice.
Ignorance
Government
Errors
Compliments Of Congratulation Are Always Kindly Taken, And Cost Nothing But Pen, Ink And Paper. I Consider Them As Draughts Upon Good Breeding, Where The Exchange Is Always Greatly In Favor Of The Drawer.
Congratulations
Taken
Ink And Paper
Human Nature Is The Same Everywhere; The Modes Only Are Different.
Different
Human Nature
Humans
Statesmen And Beauties Are Very Rarely Sensible Of The Gradations Of Their Decay.
Age
Decay
Youth
Vanity, Or To Call It By A Gentler Name, The Desire Of Admiration And Applause, Is, Perhaps, The Most Universal Principle Of Humanactions.... Where That Desire Is Wanting, We Are Apt To Be Indifferent, Listless, Indolent, And Inert.... I Will Own To You, Under The Secrecy Of Confession, That My Vanity Has Very Often Made Me Take Great Pains To Make Many A Woman In Love With Me, If I Could, For Whose Person I Would Not Have Given A Pinch Of Snuff.
Pain
Vanity
Names
Character Must Be Kept Bright As Well As Clean.
Character
Cleanliness
Clean
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.
Mind
Purpose
Done
All I Desire For My Own Burial, Is Not To Be Buried Alive; But How Or Where, I Think, Must Be Entirely Indifferent To Every Rational Creature.
Death
Thinking
Desire
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.
Music
Country
Art
A Wise Man Will Live As Much Within His Wit As His Income.... Bear This Truth Always In Your Mind, That You May Be Admired For Your Wit, If You Have Any; But That Nothing But Good Sense And Good Qualities Can Make You Be Loved.
Wise
Men
Mind
Our Conjectures Pass Upon Us For Truths; We Will Know What We Do Not Know, And Often, What We Cannot Know: So Mortifying To Our Pride Is The Base Suspicion Of Ignorance.
Ignorance
Knowledge
Pride
When Griefs Are Genuine, I Find, There Is Nothing More Vacuous, More Burdensome, Or Even More Impertinent, Than Letters Of Consolation.
Sympathy
Grief
Letters
Firmness Of Purpose Is One Of The Best Instruments Of Success.
Success
Mazes
Purpose
The Young Leading The Young, Is Like The Blind Leading The Blind; "they Will Both Fall Into The Ditch.
Fall
Blind
Young
In The Case Of Scandal, As In That Of Robbery, The Receiver Is Always Thought As Bad As The Thief.
Thieves
Scandal
Cases
Good Manners, To Those One Does Not Love, Are No More A Breach Of Truth, Than "your Humble Servant," At The Bottom Of A Challengeis; They Are Universally Agreed Upon, And Understand To Be Things Of Course. They Are Necessary Guards Of The Decency And Peace Of Society.
Truth
Humble
Good Man
The Nation Looked Upon Him As A Deserter, And He Shrunk Into Insignificancy And An Earldom.
Character
Nations
Never Seem Wiser, Nor More Learned, Than The People You Are With. Wear Your Learning, Like Your Watch, In A Private Pocket: And Do Not Merely Pull It Out And Strike It; Merely To Show That You Have One.
Learning
People
Pockets
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.
Knowledge
Jewels
Curiosity
Hear One Side And You Will Be In The Dark. Hear Both And All Will Be Clear.
Dark
Sides
Argument
Many Young People Adopt Pleasures For Which They Have Not The Least Taste, Only Because They Are Called By That Name.... You Mustallow That Drunkenness, Which Is Equally Destructive To Body And Mind, Is A Fine Pleasure. Gaming, That Draws You Into A Thousand Scraps, Leaves You Penniless, And Gives You The Air And Manners Of An Outrageous Madman, Is Another Most Exquisite Pleasure, Is It Not? As To Running After Women, The Consequences Of That Vice Are Only The Loss Of One's Nose, The Total Destruction Of Health, And, Not Unfrequently, The Being Run Through The Body.
Running
Drinking
Loss
Singularity Is Only Pardonable In Old Age And Retirement; I May Now Be As Singular As I Please, But You May Not.
Retirement
Age
May
In Your Friendships And In Your Enmities Let Your Confidence And Your Hostilities Have Certain Bounds; Make Not The Former Dangerous, Nor The Latter Irreconcilable. There Are Strange Vicissitudes In Business.
Friendship
Enmity
Strange
If You Love Music Hear It; Go To Operas, Concerts, And Pay Fiddlers To Play To You; But I Insist Upon Your Neither Piping Nor Fiddling Yourself. It Puts A Gentleman In A Very Frivolous, Contemptible Light; Brings Him Into A Great Deal Of Bad Company; And Takes Up A Great Deal Of Time, Which Might Be Much Better Employed.
Music
Play
Light
Speak Of The Moderns Without Contempt And Of The Ancients Without Idolatry; Judge Them All By Their Merits, But Not By Their Age
Judging
Age
Merit
For My Own Part, I Would Rather Be In Company With A Dead Man Than With An Absent One; For If The Dead Man Gives Me No Pleasure, At Least He Shows Me No Contempt; Whereas The Absent One, Silently Indeed, But Very Plainly, Tells Me That He Does Not Think Me Worth His Attention.
Real
Men
Thinking
Wear Your Knowledge Like Your Watch - In You Pocket - And Don't Pull It Out Just For Show.
Pockets
Watches
Like You
If Originally It Was Not Good For A Man To Be Alone, It Is Much Worse For A Sick Man To Be So; He Thinks Too Much Of His Distemper, And Magnifies It.
Men
Thinking
Sick
A Man's Own Good Breeding Is The Best Security Against Other People's Ill Manners.
Inspirational
Men
People
The Law Before Us, My Lords, Seems To Be The Effect Of That Practice Of Which It Is Intended Likewise To Be The Cause, And To Be Dictated By The Liquor Of Which It So Effectually Promotes The Use; For Surely It Never Before Was Conceived By Any Man Entrusted With The Administration Of Public Affairs, To Raise Taxes By The Destruction Of The People.
Men
Law
Practice
Wrongs Are Often Forgiven, But Contempt Never Is. Our Pride Remembers It Forever. It Implies A Discovery Of Weakness, Which We Are More Careful To Conceal Than A Crime. Many A Man Will Confess His Crimes To A Friend; But I Never Knew A Man That Would Tell His Silly Weaknesses To His Most Intimate One.
Forgiveness
Silly
Pride
Choose Your Pleasures For Yourself, And Do Not Let Them Be Imposed Upon You.
Pleasure
I Recommend To You To Take Care Of The Minutes; For Hours Will Take Care Of Themselves. I Am Very Sure, That Many People Lose Two Or Three Hours Every Day, By Not Taking Care Of The Minutes.
Two
People
Three
Love Has Been Not Unaptly Compared To The Small-pox, Which Most People Have Sooner Or Later.
Love
People
Pox
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.
Men
Dancing
Ballet
You Must Embrace The Man You Hate, If You Cannot Be Justified In Knocking Him Down.
Hate
Men
Justified
A Novel Must Be Exceptionally Good To Live As Long As The Average Cat.
Book
Reading
Cat
Without Any Extraordinary Effort Of Genius, I Have Discovered That Nature Was The Same Three Thousand Years Ago As At Present; That Men Were But Men Then As Well As Now; That Modes And Customs Vary Often, But That Human Nature Is Always The Same. And I Can No More Suppose, That Men Were Better, Braver, Or Wiser, Fifteen Hundred Or Three Thousand Years Ago, Than I Can Suppose That The Animals Or Vegetables Were Better Than They Are Now.
Animal
Men
Vegetables
A Rake Is A Composition Of All The Lowest, Most Ignoble, Degrading, And Shameful Vices; They All Conspire To Disgrace His Character, And To Ruin His Fortune; While Wine And The Pox Content Which Shall Soonest And Most Effectually Destroy His Constitution.
Drinking
Wine
Character
Experience Only Can Teach Men Not To Prefer What Strikes Them For The Present Moment, To What Will Have Much Greater Weight With The Them Hereafter.
Men
Experience
Weight
As Kings Are Begotten And Born Like Other Men, It Is To Be Presumed That They Are Of The Human Species; And Perhaps, Had They Thesame Education, They Might Prove Like Other Men. But, Flattered From Their Cradles, Their Hearts Are Corrupted, And Their Heads Are Turned, So That They Seem To Be A Species By Themselves.... Flattery Cannot Be Too Strong For Them; Drunk With It From Their Infancy, Like Old Drinkers, They Require Dreams.
Dream
Strong
Kings
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.
Love
Family
Mother
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.
Funny
Brother
Sibling
I Have, By Long Experience, Found Women To Be Like Telephus's Spear: If One End Kills, The Other Cures.
Women
Long
Ends
Almost All Men Are Born With Every Passion To Some Extent, But There Is Hardly A Man Who Has Not A Dominant Passion To Which The Others Are Subordinate. Discover This Governing Passion In Every Individual; And When You Have Found The Master Passion Of A Man, Remember Never To Trust To Him Where That Passion Is Concerned.
Passion
Men
Remember
The Mere Brute Pleasure Of Reading - The Sort Of Pleasure A Cow Must Have In Grazing.
Reading
Cows
Pleasure
The Scholar Without Good Breeding Is A Pedant; The Philosopher, A Cynic.
Philosophy
Pedants
Philosopher
Let Us Not Only Scatter Benefits, But Even Strew Flowers For Our Fellow-travellers, In The Rugged Ways Of This Wretched World.
Flower
Generosity
Way
Ceremonies Are The Outworks Of Manners.
Manners
Ceremony
Lady ---- Is Safely Delivered Of A Son, To The Great Joy Of That Noble Family. The Expression, Of A Woman's Having Brought Her Husband A Son, Seems To Be A Proper And Cautious One; For It Is Never Said, From Whence.
Husband
Son
Expression
The French Manner Of Hunting Is Gentlemanlike; Ours Is Only For Bumpkins And Bodies. The Poor Beasts Here Are Pursued And Run Downby Much Greater Beasts Than Themselves; And The True British Fox-hunter Is Most Undoubtedly A Species Appropriated And Peculiar To This Country, Which No Other Part Of The Globe Produces.
Running
Country
Hunting
Women Who Are Either Indisputably Beautiful, Or Indisputably Ugly, Are Best Flattered Upon The Score Of Their Understandings.
Beautiful
Women
Understanding
Endeavor, As Much As You Can, To Keep Company With People Above You.... Do Not Mistake, When I Say Company Above You, And Think That I Mean With Regard To Their Birth; That Is The Least Consideration; But I Mean With Regard To Their Merit, And The Light In Which The World Considers Them.
Mistake
Mean
Thinking
Not To Perceive The Little Weaknesses And The Idle But Innocent Affectations Of The Company May Be Allowable As A Sort Of Polite Duty. The Company Will Be Pleased With You If You Do, And Most Probably Will Not Be Reformed By You If You Do Not.
Weakness
May
Littles
I Am Grown Old, And Have Possibly Lost A Great Deal Of That Fire, Which Formerly Made Me Love Fire In Others At Any Rate, And However Attended With Smoke: But Now I Must Have All Sense, And Cannot, For The Sake Of Five Righteous Lines, Forgive A Thousand Absurd Ones.
Fire
Poetry
Forgiving
Men Are Apt To Mistake, Or At Least To Seem To Mistake, Their Own Talents, In Hopes, Perhaps, Of Misleading Others To Allow Them That Which They Are Conscious They Do Not Possess. Thus Lord Hardwicke Valued Himself More Upon Being A Great Minister Of State, Which He Certainly Was Not, Than Upon Being A Great Magistrate, Which He Certainly Was.
Mistake
Pride
Men
We Are Hardly Ever Grateful For A Fine Clock Or Watch When It Goes Right, And We Pay Attention To It Only When It Falters, For Then We Are Caught By Surprise. It Ought To Be The Other Way About.
Gratitude
Grateful
Watches
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.
Ambition
Pride
Your Side
To Me It Appears Strange That The Men Against Whom I Should Be Enabled To Bring An Action For Laying A Little Dirt At My Door, May With Impunity Drive By It Half-a-dozen Calves, With Their Tails Lopped Close To Their Bodies And Their Hinder Parts Covered With Blood.
Men
Doors
Blood
We Are In Truth, More Than Half What We Are By Imitation. The Great Point Is To Choose Good Models And To Study Them With Care.
Example
Half
Care
Most People Enjoy The Inferiority Of Their Best Friends.
Friendship
Best Friend
Funny Friend
Common Sense (which, In Truth, Is Very Uncommon) Is The Best Sense I Know Of: Abide By It; It Will Counsel You Best.
Common Sense
Truth Is
Uncommon
He Adorned Whatever Subject He Either Spoke Or Wrote Upon, By The Most Splendid Eloquence.
Inspirational
Character
Splendid
There Is Not A More Prudent Maxim, Than To Live With One's Enemies As If They May One Day Become One's Friends; As It Commonly Happens, Sooner Or Later, In The Vicissitudes Of Political Affairs.
Political
Enemy
One Day
Assurance And Intrepidity, Under The White Banner Of Seeming Modesty, Clear The Way For Merit, That Would Otherwise Be Discouraged By Difficulties...
White
Way
Merit
Most People Have Ears, But Few Have Judgment; Tickle Those Ears, And Depend Upon It, You Will Catch Their Judgments, Such As They Are.
People
Justice
Ears
A Man Must Have A Good Share Of Wit Himself To Endure A Great Share In Another.
Men
Share
Endure
The Vulgar Look Upon A Man, Who Is Reckoned A Fine Speaker, As A Phenomenon, A Supernatural Being, And Endowed With Some Peculiargift Of Heaven; They Stare At Him, If He Walks In The Park, And Cry, That Is He. You Will, I Am Sure, View Him In A Juster Light, And Nulla Formidine. You Will Consider Him Only As A Man Of Good Sense, Who Adorns Common Thoughts With The Graces Of Elocution, And The Elegancy Of Style. The Miracle Will Then Cease.
Men
Supernatural Beings
Light
At Any Age We Must Cherish Illusions, Consolatory Or Merely Pleasant; In Youth, They Are Omnipresent; In Old Age We Must Search For Them, Or Even Invent Them. But With All That, Boredom Is Their Natural And Inevitable Accompaniment.
Boredom
Age
Youth
I Am Convinced That A Light Supper, A Good Night's Sleep, And A Fine Morning, Have Sometimes Made A Hero Of The Same Man, Who, By An Indigestion, A Restless Night, And Rainy Morning, Would Have Proved A Coward.
Life
Success
Good Night
If A Marriage Is Going To Work Well, It Must Be On A Solid Footing, Namely Money, And Of That Commodity It Is The Girl With The Smallest Dowry Who, To My Knowledge, Consumes The Most, To Infuriate Her Husband. All The Same, It Is Only Fair That The Marriage Should Pay For Past Pleasures, Since It Will Scarcely Procure Any In The Future.
Marriage
Girl
Money
An Honest Man May Really Love A Pretty Girl, But Only An Idiot Marries Her Merely Because She Is Pretty.
Love
Marriage
Girl
We Are Really So Prejudiced By Our Educations, That, As The Ancients Deified Their Heroes, We Deify Their Madmen.
Hero
Prejudice
Madmen
Few Men Are Of One Plain, Decided Color; Most Are Mixed, Shaded, And Blended; And Vary As Much, From Different Situations, As Changeable Silks Do From Different Lights.
Life
Success
Men
Six, Or At Most Seven, Hours' Sleep Is, For A Constancy, As Much As You Or Anybody Else Can Want; More Is Only Laziness And Dozing, And Is, I Am Persuaded, Both Unwholesome And Stupefying.
Sleep
Dozing
Laziness
The Greatest Powers Cannot Injure A Man's Character Whose Reputation Is Unblemished Among His Party.
Party
Character
Men
Never Yield To That Temptation, Which, To Most Young Men, Is Very Strong, Of Exposing Other People's Weaknesses And Infirmities, For The Sake Either Of Diverting The Company, Or Of Showing Your Own Superiority. You May Get The Laugh On Your Side By It For The Present; But You Will Make Enemies By It For Ever; And Even Those Who Laugh With You Then, Will, Upon Reflection, Fear, And Consequently Hate You.
Strong
Hate
Reflection
No Woman Ever Yet Either Reasoned Or Acted Long Together Consequentially; But Some Little Thing, Some Love, Some Resentment, Somepresent Momentary Interest, Some Supposed Slight, Or Some Humour, Always Breaks In Upon, And Oversets Their Most Prudent Resolutions And Schemes.
Women
Long
Together
A Cheerful, Easy, Open Countenance Will Make Fools Think You A Good-natured Man, And Make Designing Men Think You An Undesigning One.
Men
Thinking
Design
Nothing Is More Dissimilar Than Natural And Acquired Politeness. The First Consists In A Willing Abnegation Of Self; The Second In A Compelled Recollection Of Others.
Self
Firsts
Natural
Give Nobly To Indigent Merit, And Do Not Refuse Your Charity Even To Those Who Have Not Merit But Their Misery.
Giving
Charity
Merit
Never Write Down Your Speeches Beforehand; If You Do, You May Perhaps Be A Good Declaimer, But Will Never Be A Debater.
Writing
May
Speech
To Take A Wife Merely As An Agreeable And Rational Companion, Will Commonly Be Found To Be A Grand Mistake.
Mistake
Wife
Found
In The Mass Of Mankind, I Fear, There Is Too Great A Majority Of Fools And Knaves; Who, Singly From Their Number, Must To A Certain Degree Be Respected, Though They Are By No Means Respectable.
Respect
Mean
Numbers
Health ... Is The First And Greatest Of All Blessings.
Blessing
Firsts
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.
Fitness
Perseverance
Exercise
I Sometimes Give Myself Admirable Advice, But I Am Incapable Of Taking It.
Funny
Giving
Advice
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.
Life
Dream
Mean
Ceremony Is Necessary In Courts, As The Outwork And Defense Of Manners.
Defense
Courtesy
Manners
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.
Mind
Suffering
Body
One Should Always Think Of What One Is About; When One Is Learning, One Should Not Think Of Play; And When One Is At Play, One Should Not Think Of Learning.
Education
Teaching
Thinking
Every Man Is To Be Had One Way Or Another And Every Woman Almost Anyway.
Men
Dating
Way
Our Own Self-love Draws A Thick Veil Between Us And Our Faults.
Self
Ego
Veils
It Seems To Me That Physical Sickness Softens, Just As Moral Sickness Hardens, The Heart.
Heart
Moral
Sickness
Anne Of Austria (with Great Submission To A Crowned Head Do I Say It) Was A B----. She Had Spirit And Courage Without Parts, Devotion Without Common Morality, And Lewdness Without Tenderness Either To Justify Or To Dignify It. Her Two Sons Were No More Lewis The Thirteen's Than They Were Mine.
Character
Son
Two
A Man Of Sense Only Trifles With Them, Plays With Them, Humors And Flatters Them, As He Does With A Sprightly And Forward Child; But He Neither Consults Them About, Nor Trusts Them With, Serious Matters.
Children
Men
Play
Spirit Is Now A Very Fashionable Word: To Act With Spirit, To Speak With Spirit, Means Only To Act Rashly, And To Talk Indiscreetly. An Able Man Shows His Spirit By Gentle Words And Resolute Actions; He Is Neither Hot Nor Timid.
Passion
Mean
Men
The World Is A Country Which Nobody Ever Yet Knew By Description; One Must Travel Through It One's Self To Be Acquainted With It.
Country
Nature
Travel
Style Is The Dress Of Thoughts; And Let Them Be Ever So Just, If Your Style Is Homely, Coarse, And Vulgar, They Will Appear To As Much Disadvantage, And Be As Ill Received, As Your Person, Though Ever So Well-proportioned, Would If Dressed In Rags, Dirt, And Tatters.
Style
Rags
Dresses
Silence And Reserve Suggest Latent Power. What Some Men Think Has More Effect Than What Others Say.
Men
Thinking
Silence
Never Put Off Till Tomorrow What You Can Do Today.
Inspirational
Motivational
Time
The Vulgar Only Laugh, But Never Smile; Whereas Well-bred People Often Smile, But Seldom Laugh.
Laughter
People
Laughing
In Seeking Wisdom Thou Art Wise; In Imagining That Thou Hast Attained It - Thou Art A Fool.
Inspirational
Life
Wise
An Able Man Shows His Spirit By Gentle Words And Resolute Actions. He Is Neither Hot Nor Timid.
Men
Able
Hot
If You Are Not In Fashion, You Are Nobody.
Fashion
Ifs
Inferiority Is What You Enjoy In Your Best Friends.
Inferiority
Your Best Friend
Enjoy
Choose The Company Of Your Superiors Whenever You Can Have It.
Company
Superiors
Fear Invites Danger; Concealed Cowards Insult Known Ones.
Fear
Coward
Insult
Cardinal Mazarin Was A Great Knave, But No Great Man; Much More Cunning Than Able; Scandalously False And Dirtily Greedy.
Character
Men
Greed
Real Friendship Is A Slow Grower.
Real
Real Friends
Real Friendship
Our Self-love Is Mortified, When We Think Our Opinions, And Even Our Tastes, Customs, And Dresses, Either Arraigned Or Condemned;as, On The Contrary, It Is Tickled And Flattered By Approbation.
Love Is
Thinking
Self
One Man Affirms That He Has Rode Post A Hundred Miles In Six Hours; Probably It Is A Lie; But Supposing It To Be True, What Then? Why, He Is A Very Good Post-boy; That Is All. Another Asserts, And Probably Not Without Oaths, That He Has Drunk Six Or Eight Bottles Of Wine At A Sitting; Out Of Charity I Will Believe Him A Liar; For If I Do Not, I Must Think Him A Beast.
Liars
Lying
Believe
Since Attaining The Full Use Of My Reason No One Has Ever Heard Me Laugh.
Laughing
Use
Reason
The New Year Is The Season In Which Custom Seems More Particularly To Authorize Civil And Harmless Lies, Under The Name Of Compliments. People Reciprocally Profess Wishes Which They Seldom Form And Concern Which They Seldom Feel.
New Year
Lying
Years
Few People Do Business Well, Who Do Nothing Else.
Business
Work
People
All I Can Say, In Answer To This Kind Queries [of Friends] Is That I Have Not The Distemper Called The Plague; But That I Have Allthe Plagues Of Old Age, And Of A Shattered Carcase.
Health
Age
Answers
Women Are Much More Like Each Other Than Men: They Have, In Truth, But Two Passions, Vanity And Love; These Are Their Universal Characteristics.
Passion
Men
Vanity
The Permanency Of Most Friendships Depends Upon The Continuity Of Good Fortune.
Friendship
Fortune
Continuity
In My Mind, There Is Nothing So Illiberal, And So Ill-bred, As Audible Laughter.
Funny
Laughter
Humorous
I Heartily Wish You, In The Plain Home-spun Style, A Great Number Of Happy New Years, Well Employed In Forming Both Your Mind Andyour Manners, To Be Useful And Agreeable To Yourself, Your Country, And Your Friends.
Country
New Year
Home
The Only Solid And Lasting Peace Between A Man And His Wife Is, Doubtless, A Separation.
Funny
Marriage
Drinking
Good Breeding And Good Nature Do Incline Us Rather To Help And Raise People Up To Ourselves, Than To Mortify And Depress Them, And, In Truth, Our Own Private Interest Concurs In It, As It Is Making Ourselves So Many Friends, Instead Of So Many Enemies.
Friends
Depressing
People
A Wise Man Will Live As Much Within His Wit As Within His Income.
Wise
Men
Advice
The World Can Doubtless Never Be Well Known By Theory: Practice Is Absolutely Necessary; But Surely It Is Of Great Use To A Young Man, Before He Sets Out For That Country, Full Of Mazes, Windings, And Turnings, To Have At Least A General Map Of It, Made By Some Experienced Traveler.
Country
Men
Practice
Should You Be Unfortunate Enough To Have Vices, You May, To A Certain Degree, Even Dignify Them By A Strict Observance Of Decorum;at Least They Will Lose Something Of Their Natural Turpitude.
Vices
Degrees
May
Whenever I Go To An Opera, I Leave My Sense And Reason At The Door With My Half-guinea, And Deliver Myself Up To My Eyes And My Ears.
Eye
Doors
Ears
I Assisted At The Birth Of That Most Significant Word "flirtation," Which Dropped From The Most Beautiful Mouth In The World.
Beautiful
World
Mouths
Observe It, The Vulgar Often Laugh, But Never Smile, Whereas Well-bred People Often Smile, And Seldom Or Never Laugh. A Witty Thing Never Excited Laughter, It Pleases Only The Mind And Never Distorts The Countenance.
Witty
Laughter
Laughing
Men, As Well As Women, Are Much Oftener Led By Their Hearts Than By Their Understandings.
Inspirational
Heart
Men
A Joker Is Near Akin To A Buffoon; And Neither Of Them Is The Least Related To Wit.
Wit
Related
Buffoons
Women Who Are Either Indisputably Beautiful, Or Indisputably Ugly, Are Best Flattered Upon The Score Of Their Understandings; But Those Who Are In A State Of Mediocrity Are Best Flattered Upon Their Beauty, Or At Least Their Graces; For Every Woman Who Is Not Absolutely Ugly Thinks Herself Handsome.
Beautiful
Thinking
Grace
I Often Wish For The End Of The Wretched Remnant Of My Life; And That Wish Is A Rational One; But Then The Innate Principle Of Self-preservation, Wisely Implanted In Our Natures, For Obvious Purposes, Opposes That Wish, And Makes Us Endeavour To Spin Out Our Thread As Long As We Can, However Decayed And Rotten It May Be.
Death
Self
Long
There Is Nothing That People Bear More Impatiently, Or Forgive Less, Than Contempt: And An Injury Is Much Sooner Forgotten Than An Insult.
Insult To Injury
People
Forgiving
The Less One Has To Do, The Less Time One Finds To Do It In.
Inspirational
Funny
Life
It Is To Be Presumed, That A Man Of Common Sense, Who Does Not Desire To Please, Desires Nothing At All; Since He Must Know That He Cannot Obtain Anything Without It.
Men
Common Sense
Desire
I Really Think Next To The Consciousness Of Doing A Good Action, That Of Doing A Civil One Is The Most Pleasing; And The Epithet Which I Should Covet The Most Next To That Of Aristides, Would Be That Of Well-bred.
Thinking
Next
Would Be
Next To Clothes Being Fine, They Should Be Well Made, And Worn Easily; For A Man Is Only The Less Genteel For A Fine Coat, If, In Wearing It, He Shows A Regard For It, And Is Not As Easy In It As If It Was A Plain One.
Men
Clothes
Coats
Good-breeding Carries Along With It A Dignity That Is Respected By The Most Petulant. Ill-breeding Invites And Authorizes The Familiarity Of The Most Timid.
Dignity
Breeding
Ill
Women Have, In General, But Ne Object, Which Is Their Beauty; Upon Which, Scarce Any Flattery Is Too Gross For Them To Swallow.
Beauty
Flattery
Gross
Keep Your Own Secret, And Get Out Other People's. Keep Your Own Temper, And Artfully Warm Other People's. Counterwork Your Rivalswith Diligence And Dexterity, But At The Same Time With The Utmost Personal Civility To Them: And Be Firm Without Heat.
People
Secret
Dexterity
Though We Cannot Totally Change Our Nature, We May In Great Measure Correct It By Reflection And Philosophy; And Some Philosophy Is A Very Necessary Companion In This World, Where, Even To The Most Fortunate, The Chances Are Greatly Against Happiness.
Philosophy
Reflection
Thoughtful
Men Have Various Subjects In Which They May Excel, Or At Least Would Be Thought To Excel, And Though They Love To Hear Justice Done To Them Where They Know They Excel, Yet They Are Most And Best Flattered Upon Those Points Where They Wish To Excel And Yet Are Doubtful Whether They Do Or Not.
Love
Men
Justice
There Are People Who Indulge Themselves In A Sort Of Lying, Which They Reckon Innocent, And Which In One Sense Is So; For It Hurtsnobody But Themselves. This Sort Of Lying Is The Spurious Offspring Of Vanity, Begotten Upon Folly.
Lying
Vanity
People
Judgment Is Not Upon All Occasions Required, But Discretion Always Is.
Justice
Judgment
All Occasions
Patience Is The Most Necessary Quality For Business, Many A Man Would Rather You Heard His Story Than Grant His Request.
Patience
Business
Men
There Never Were, Since The Creation Of The World, Two Cases Exactly Parallel.
Two
World
Earth
Vulgarism In Language Is The Distinguishing Characteristic Of Bad Company, And A Bad Education. A Man Of Fashion Avoids Nothing With More Care Than That. Proverbial Expressions, And Trite Sayings, Are The Flowers Of The Rhetoric Of Vulgar Man.
Fashion
Flower
Men
Manners Must Adorn Knowledge And Smooth Its Way Through The World.
Jewels
World
Way
Cottages Have Them (falsehood And Dissimulation) As Well As Courts, Only With Worse Manners.
Cottages
Manners
Court
Nothing Convinces Persons Of A Weak Understanding So Effectually, As What They Do Not Comprehend.
Ignorance
Understanding
Weak
Remember, As Long As You Live, That Nothing But Strict Truth Can Carry You Through The World, With Either Your Conscience Or Your Honor Unwounded.
Long
Honor
World
The Great, The Rich, The Powerful, Too Often Bestow Their Favours Upon Their Inferiors In The Manner They Bestow Their Scraps Upontheir Dogs, So As Neither To Oblige Man Nor Dogs. It Is No Wonder If Favours, Benefits, And Even Charities Thus Bestowed Ungraciously, Should Be As Coldly And Faintly Acknowledged.
Gratitude
Dog
Powerful
Pocket All Your Knowledge With Your Watch, And Never Pull It Out In Company Unless Desired.
Knowledge
Pockets
Watches
Whenever A Man Seeks Your Advice He Generally Seeks Your Praise.
Men
Advice
Praise
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.
Light
Sight
Vices
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