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Pray Be Always In Motion. Early In The Morning Go And See Things; And The Rest Of The Day Go And See People. If You Stay But A Week At A Place, And That An Insignificant One, See, However, All That Is To Be Seen There; Know As Many People, And Get Into As Many Houses As Ever You Can.

-Lord Chesterfield

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Pray Be Always In

Lord Chesterfield

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Pray Be Always In Motion. Early In The Morning Go And See Things; And The Rest Of The Day Go And See People. If You Stay But A Week At A Place, And That An Insignificant One, See, However, All That Is To Be Seen There; Know As Many People, And Get Into As Many Houses As Ever You Can.

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This Is The Day When People Reciprocally Offer, And Receive, The Kindest And The Warmest Wishes, Though, In General, Without Meaning Them On One Side, Or Believing Them On The Other. They Are Formed By The Head, In Compliance With Custom, Though Disavowed By The Heart, In Consequence Of Nature.

Never Put Off Till Tomorrow What You Can Do Today.

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.

Civility, Which Is A Disposition To Accommodate And Oblige Others, Is Essentially The Same In Every Country; But Good Breeding, Asit Is Called, Which Is The Manner Of Exerting That Disposition, Is Different In Almost Every Country, And Merely Local; And Every Man Of Sense Imitates And Conforms To That Local Good Breeding Of The Place Which He Is At.

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.

The Most Familiar And Intimate Habitudes, Connections, Friendships, Require A Degree Of Good-breeding Both To Preserve And Cement Them.

A Young Fellow Ought To Be Wiser Than He Should Seem To Be; And An Old Fellow Ought To Seem Wise Whether He Really Be So Or Not.

Know The True Value Of Time; Snatch, Seize, And Enjoy Every Moment Of It. No Idleness, No Laziness, No Procrastination: Never Put Off Till Tomorrow What You Can Do Today.

Physical Ills Are The Taxes Laid Upon This Wretched Life; Some Are Taxed Higher, And Some Lower, But All Pay Something.

Pleasure Is The Rock Which Most Young People Split Upon; They Launch Out With Crowded Sails In Quest Of It, But Without A Compassto Direct Their Course, Or Reason Sufficient To Steer The Vessel; For Want Of Which, Pain And Shame, Instead Of Pleasure, Are The Returns Of Their Voyage.

The Herd Of Mankind Can Hardly Be Said To Think; Their Notions Are Almost All Adoptive; And, In General, I Believe It Is Better That It Should Be So; As Such Common Prejudices Contribute More To Order And Quiet, Than Their Own Separate Reasonings Would Do, Uncultivated And Unimproved As They Are.

I Do Not Think That A Physician Should Be Admitted Into The College Till He Could Bring Proofs Of His Having Cured, In His Own Person, At Least Four Incurable Distempers.

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.

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.

Sincerity Is The Most Compendious Wisdom.

History Is But A Confused Heap Of Facts.

Character Must Be Kept Bright As Well As Clean.

Style Is The Dress Of Thoughts, And Let Them Be Ever So Just.

An Able Man Shows His Spirit By Gentle Words And Resolute Actions.

If You Have An Hour, Will You Not Improve That Hour, Instead Of Idling It Away?

A Man Who Owes A Little Can Clear It Off In A Very Little Time, And, If He Is A Prudent Man, 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.

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.

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.

Sexual Intercourse Is A Grossly Overrated Pastime; The Position Is Undignified, The Pleasure Momentary And The Consequences Damnable.

True Politeness Is Perfect Ease And Freedom. It Simply Consists In Treating Others Just As You Love To Be Treated Yourself.

Treating Others

Dispatch Is The Soul Of Business, And Nothing Contributes More To Dispatch Than Method.

Pray Be Always In Motion. Early In The Morning Go And See Things; And The Rest Of The Day Go And See People. If You Stay But A Week At A Place, And That An Insignificant One, See, However, All That Is To Be Seen There; Know As Many People, And Get Into As Many Houses As Ever You Can.

Keep Your Hands Clean And Pure From The Infamous Vice Of Corruption, A Vice So Infamous That It Degrades Even The Other Vices Thatmay Accompany It. Accept No Present Whatever; Let Your Character In That Respect Be Transparent And Without The Least Speck, For As Avarice Is The Vilest And Dirtiest Vice In Private, Corruption Is So In Public Life.

People Hate Who Makes You Feel One's Inferiority.

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.

Nature Has Hardly Formed A Woman Ugly Enough To Be Insensible To Flattery Upon Her Person.

We Are As Often Duped By Diffidence As By Confidence.

The Mere Brute Pleasure Of Reading - The Sort Of Pleasure A Cow Must Have In Grazing.

I Have Been Too Long Acquainted With Human Nature To Have Great Regard For Human Testimony; And A Very Great Degree Of Probability, Supported By Various Concurrent Circumstances, Conspiring In One Point, Will Have Much Greater Weight With Me, Than Human Testimony Upon Oath, Or Even Upon Honour; Both Of Which I Have Frequently Seen Considerably Warped By Private Views.

It Seems To Me That Your Doctor [tronchin] Is More Of A Philosopher Than A Physician. As For Me, I Much Prefer A Doctor Who Is Anoptimist And Who Gives Me Remedies That Will Improve My Health. Philosophical Consolations Are, After All, Useless Against Real Ailments. I Know Only Two Kinds Of Sickness--physical And Moral: All The Others Are Purely In The Imagination.

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.

Dispatch Is The Soul Of Business.

Those Who Travel Heedlessly From Place To Place, Observing Only Their Distance From Each Other, And Attending Only To Their Accommodation At The Inn At Night, Set Out Fools, And Will Certainly Return So

The Permanency Of Most Friendships Depends Upon The Continuity Of Good Fortune.

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.

Ceremonies Are The Outworks Of Manners.

I Sometimes Give Myself Admirable Advice, But I Am Incapable Of Taking It.

Sincerity W The Most Compendious Wisdom, An Excellent Instrument For The Speedy Despatch Of Business. It Creates Confidence In Those We Have To Deal With, Saves The Labor Of Many Inquiries, And Brings Things To An Issue In Few Words.

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.

Indifference Is Commonly The Mother Of Discretion.

I Knew Once A Very Covetous, Sordid Fellow [perhaps William Lowndes], Who Used To Say, `take Care Of The Pence, For The Pounds Will Take Care Of Themselves.

The Nation Looked Upon Him As A Deserter, And He Shrunk Into Insignificancy And An Earldom.

Deserve A Great Deal, And You Shall Have A Great Deal; Deserve Little, And You Shall Have But A Little; And Be Good For Nothing Atall, And I Assure You, You Shall Have Nothing At All.

If You Can Once Engage People's Pride, Love, Pity, Ambition (or Whatever Is Their Prevailing Passion) On Your Side, You Need Not Fear What Their Reason Can Do Against You.

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.

The Talent Of Insinuation Is More Useful Than That Of Persuasion, As Everybody Is Open To Insinuation, But Scarce Any To Persuasion.

Most Arts Require Long Study And Application, But The Most Useful Art Of All, That Of Pleasing, Requires Only The Desire.

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.

Ridicule Is The Best Test Of Truth.

Ceremony Is Necessary In Courts, As The Outwork And Defense Of Manners.

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.

Virtue And Learning, Like Gold, Have Their Intrinsic Value: But If They Are Not Polished, They Certainly Lose A Great Deal Of Their Luster: And Even Polished Brass Will Pass Upon More People Than Rough Gold.

Inspirational Life

No Man Can Possibly Improve In Any Company For Which He Has Not Respect Enough To Be Under Some Degree Of Restraint.

Statesmen And Beauties Are Very Rarely Sensible Of The Gradations Of Their Decay.

Artichoke: That Vegetable Of Which One Has More At The Finish Than At The Start Of Dinner.

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.

We Are Really So Prejudiced By Our Educations, That, As The Ancients Deified Their Heroes, We Deify Their Madmen.

A Man Of Sense May Be In Haste, But Can Never Be In A Hurry.

If A Man, Notoriously And Designedly, Insults And Affronts You, Knock Him Down; But If He Only Injures You, Your Best Revenge Is To Be Extremely Civil To Him In Your Outward Behaviour, Though At The Same Time You Counterwork Him, And Return Him The Compliment, Perhaps With Interest.

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.

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.

Real Merit Of Any Kind Cannot Long Be Concealed; It Will Be Discovered, And Nothing Can Depreciate It But A Man Exhibiting It Himself. It May Not Always Be Rewarded As It Ought; But It Will Always Be Known.

A Man's Own Good Breeding Is The Best Security Against Other People's Ill Manners.

Knowledge Is A Comfortable And Necessary Retreat And Shelter For Us In An Advanced Age; And If We Do Not Plant It While Young, It Will Give Us No Shade When We Grow Old.

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.

Idleness Is Only The Refuge Of Weak Minds.

A Man Of Sense Soon Discovers, Because He Carefully Observes, Where And How Long He Is Welcome; And Takes Care To Leave The Company At Least As Soon As He Is Wished Out Of It. Fools Never Perceive Whether They Are Ill Timed Or Ill Placed.

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.

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.

Women Are All So Far Machiavellians That They Are Never Either Good Or Bad By Halves; Their Passions Are Too Strong, And Their Reason Too Weak, To Do Anything With Moderation.

If You Wish Particularly To Gain The Good Graces And Affection Of Certain People, Men Or Women, Try To Discover Their Most Striking Merit, If They Have One, And Their Dominant Weakness, For Every One Has His Own, Then Do Justice To The One, And A Little More Than Justice To The Other.

Either A Good Or A Bad Reputation Outruns And Gets Before People Wherever They Go.

Human Condition

Firmness Of Purpose Is One Of The Most Necessary Sinews Of Character, And One Of The Best Instruments Of Success. Without It, Genius Wastes Its Efforts In A Maze Of Inconsistencies.

I Have Seen Many People, Who While You Are Speaking To Them, Instead, Of Looking At, And Attending To You, Fix Their Eyes Upon The Ceiling, Or Some Other Part Of The Room, Look Out Of The Window, Play With A Dog, Twirl Their Snuff-box, Or Pick Their Nose. Nothing Discovers A Little, Futile, Frivolous Mind More Than This, And Nothing Is So Offensively Ill-bred.

To Know A Little Of Anything Gives Neither Satisfaction Nor Credit, But Often Brings Disgrace Or Ridicule.

Keep Carefully Not Of All Scrapes And Quarrels. They Lower A Character Extremely; And Are Particularly Dangerous In France, Wherea Man Is Dishonoured By Not Resenting An Affront, And Utterly Ruined By Resenting It.

We Are, In Truth, More Than Half What We Are By Imitation.

Let Them Show Me A Cottage Where There Are Not The Same Vices Of Which They Accuse The Courts.

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

Mind Not Only What People Say, But How They Say It; And If You Have Any Sagacity, You May Discover More Truth By Your Eyes Than By Your Ears. People Can Say What They Will, But They Cannot Look Just As They Will; And Their Looks Frequently (reveal) What Their Words Are Calculated To Conceal.

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.

Remember That Whatever Knowledge You Do Not Solidly Lay The Foundation Of Before You Are Eighteen, You Will Never Be Master Of While You Breathe.

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.

Choose The Company Of Your Superiors Whenever You Can Have It.

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.

Many People Come Into Company Full Of What They Intend To Say In It Themselves, Without The Least Regard To Others; And Thus Charged Up To The Muzzle Are Resolved To Let It Off At Any Rate.

Good Humor Is The Health Of The Soul, Sadness Is Its Poison.

Business By No Means Forbids Pleasures; On The Contrary, They Reciprocally Season Each Other; And I Will Venture To Affirm, That No Man Enjoys Either In Perfection That Does Not Join Both.

The Greatest Dangers Have Their Allurements, If The Want Of Success Is Likely To Be Attended With A Degree Of Glory. Middling Dangers Are Horrid, When The Loss Of Reputation Is The Inevitable Consequence Of Ill Success.

I Assisted At The Birth Of That Most Significant Word "flirtation," Which Dropped From The Most Beautiful Mouth In The World.

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.

A Certain Degree Of Ceremony Is A Necessary Outwork Of Manners, As Well As Of Religion; It Keeps The Forward And Petulant At A Proper Distance, And Is A Very Small Restraint To The Sensible And To The Well-bred Part Of The World.

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.

It Is Commonly Said That Ridicule Is The Best Test Of Truth; For That It Will Not Stick Where It Is Not Just. I Deny It. A Truth Learned In A Certain Light, And Attacked In Certain Words, By Men Of Wit And Humor, May, And Often Doth, Become Ridiculous, At Least So Far, That The Truth Is Only Remembered And Repeated For The Sake Of The Ridicule.

I Am Not Of The Opinion Generally Entertained In This Country [england], That Man Lives By Greek And Latin Alone; That Is, By Knowing A Great Many Words Of Two Dead Languages, Which Nobody Living Knows Perfectly, And Which Are Of No Use In The Common Intercourse Of Life. Useful Knowledge, In My Opinion, Consists Of Modern Languages, History, And Geography; Some Latin May Be Thrown Into The Bargain, In Compliance With Custom, And For Closet Amusement.

Whenever A Man Seeks Your Advice He Generally Seeks Your Praise.

A Man Must Have A Good Share Of Wit Himself To Endure A Great Share In Another.

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.

Absolute Power Can Only Be Supported By Error, Ignorance And Prejudice.

The More One Works, The More Willing One Is To Work.

Good Breeding Is The Result Of Good Sense, Some Good Nature, And A Little Self-denial For The Sake Of Others.

Horse-play, Romping, Frequent And Loud Fits Of Laughter, Jokes, And Indiscriminate Familiarity, Will Sink Both Merit And Knowledge Into A Degree Of Contempt. They Compose At Most A Merry Fellow; And A Merry Fellow Was Never Yet A Respectable Man.

In Nature The Most Violent Passions Are Silent; In Tragedy They Must Speak And Speak With Dignity Too.

So Much Are Our Minds Influenced By The Accidents Of Our Bodies, That Every Man Is More The Man Of The Day Than A Regular And Consequential Character.

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.

The Only Solid And Lasting Peace Between A Man And His Wife Is, Doubtless, A Separation.

Most Maxim-mongers Have Preferred The Prettiness To The Justness Of A Thought, And The Turn To The Truth; But I Have Refused Myself To Everything That My Own Experience Did Not Justify And Confirm.

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.

A Gentleman Has Ease Without Familiarity, Is Respectful Without Meanness; Genteel Without Affectation, Insinuating Without Seeming Art.

You Must Embrace The Man You Hate, If You Cannot Be Justified In Knocking Him Down.

Knowledge Of The World In Only To Be Acquired In The World, And Not In A Closet.

Women's Beauty, Like Men's Wit, Is Generally Fatal To The Owners.

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.

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.

Good Manners Are The Settled Medium Of Social, As Specie Is Of Commercial, Life; Returns Are Equally Expected For Both.

Montesquieu Well Knew, And Justly Admired, The Happy Constitution Of This Country [great Britain], Where Fixed And Known Laws Equally Restrain Monarchy From Tyranny And Liberty From Licentiousness.

When Griefs Are Genuine, I Find, There Is Nothing More Vacuous, More Burdensome, Or Even More Impertinent, Than Letters Of Consolation.

Never Write Down Your Speeches Beforehand; If You Do, You May Perhaps Be A Good Declaimer, But Will Never Be A Debater.

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.

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.

If You Would Convince Others, Seem Open To Conviction Yourself.

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.

Armies, Though Always The Supporters And Tools Of Absolute Power For The Time Being, Are Always The Destroyers Of It Too; By Frequently Changing The Hands In Which They Think Proper To Lodge It.

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.

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.

The Rulers Of The Earth Are All Worth Knowing; They Suggest Moral Reflections: And The Respect That One Naturally Has For God's Vice-regents Here On Earth Is Greatly Increased By Acquaintance With Them.

I Can Hardly Bring Myself To Caution You Against Drinking, Because I Am Persuaded That I Am Writing To A Rational Creature, A Gentleman, And Not To A Swine. However, That You May Not Be Insensibly Drawn Into That Beastly Custom Of Even Sober Drinking And Sipping, As The Sots Call It, I Advise You To Be Of No Club Whatsoever.

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.

The Greatest Powers Cannot Injure A Man's Character Whose Reputation Is Unblemished Among His Party.

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.

Speak The Language Of The Company You Are In; Speak It Purely, And Unlarded With Any Other.

Cardinal Mazarin Was A Great Knave, But No Great Man; Much More Cunning Than Able; Scandalously False And Dirtily Greedy.

Most People Have Ears, But Few Have Judgment; Tickle Those Ears, And Depend Upon It, You Will Catch Their Judgments, Such As They Are.

Know The True Value Of Time; Snatch, Seize, And Enjoy Every Moment Of It.

A Gentleman Is Often Seen, But Very Seldom Heard To Laugh.

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.

An Honest Man May Really Love A Pretty Girl, But Only An Idiot Marries Her Merely Because She Is Pretty.

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.

There Will Never Be A Better Time To Start Quitting Smoking Than Today

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.

How Often Should A Woman Be Pregnant? Continually, Or Hardly Ever? Or Must There Be A Certain Number Of Pregnancy Anniversaries Established By Fashion? What Do You, At The Age Of Forty-three, Have To Say On The Subject? Is It A Fact That The Laws Of Nature, Or Of The Country, Or Of Propriety, Have Ordained This Time Of Life For Sterility?

Honest Error Is To Be Pitied Not Ridiculed.

Aim At Perfection In Everything, Though In Most Things It Is Unattainable. However, They Who Aim At It, And Persevere, Will Come Much Nearer To It Than Those Whose Laziness And Despondency Make Them Give It Up As Unattainable.

It Is Often More Necessary To Conceal Contempt Than Resentment; The Former Is Never Forgiven, But The Later Is Sometimes Forgotten.

Those Who See And Observe Kings, Heroes, And Statesmen, Discover That They Have Headaches, Indigestion, Humors And Passions, Just Like Other People; Every One Of Which In Their Turns Determine Their Wills In Defiance Of Their Reason.

There Are Some Occasions In Which A Man Must Tell Half His Secret, In Order To Conceal The Rest: But There Is Seldom One In Which A Man Should Tell It All.

You Must Be Respectable, If You Will Be Respected.

Modesty Is The Only Sure Bait When You Angle For Praise.

Buy Good Books, And Read Them; The Best Books Are The Commonest, And The Last Editions Are Always The Best, If The Editors Are Not Blockheads.

If You Will Please People, You Must Please Them In Their Own Way; And As You Cannot Make Them What They Should Be, You Must Take Them As They Are.

It Is An Undoubted Truth, That The Less One Has To Do, The Less Time One Finds To Do It In. One Yawns, One Procrastinates, One Can Do It When One Will, And Therefore One Seldom Does It At All.

Procrastinating

Choose Your Pleasures For Yourself, And Do Not Let Them Be Imposed Upon You.

Those Whom You Can Make Like Themselves Better Will, I Promise You, Like You Very Well.

In My Mind, There Is Nothing So Illiberal, And So Ill-bred, As Audible Laughter.

When You Have Found Out The Prevailing Passion Of Any Man, Remember Never To Trust Him Where That Passion Is Concerned.

Half The Business Is Done, When One Has Gained The Heart And The Affections Of Those With Whom One Is To Transact It.

I Look Upon Indolence As A Sort Of Suicide.

Smooth Your Way To The Head Through The Heart. The Way Of Reason Is A Good One: But It Is Commonly Something Longer, And Perhapsnot So Sure.

Distrust Those Who Love You Extremely Upon A Slight Acquaintance, And Without Any Visible Reason.

Women Have, In General, But Ne Object, Which Is Their Beauty; Upon Which, Scarce Any Flattery Is Too Gross For Them To Swallow.

It Is By Vivacity And Wit That Man Shines In Company; But Trite Jokes And Loud Laughter Reduce Him To A Buffoon.

A Novel Must Be Exceptionally Good To Live As Long As The Average Cat.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Nothing Convinces Persons Of A Weak Understanding So Effectually, As What They Do Not Comprehend.

Speak Of The Moderns Without Contempt And Of The Ancients Without Idolatry; Judge Them All By Their Merits, But Not By Their Age

Knowledge May Give Weight, But Accomplishments Give Luster, And Many More People See Than Weigh.

Sex: The Pleasure Is Momentary, The Position Ridiculous, And The Expense Damnable.

Common Sense (which, In Truth, Is Very Uncommon) Is The Best Sense I Know Of: Abide By It; It Will Counsel You Best.

Singularity Is Only Pardonable In Old Age And Retirement; I May Now Be As Singular As I Please, But You May Not.

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.

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.

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.

Young Men Are Apt To Think Themselves Wise Enough, As Drunken Men Are Apt To Think Themselves Sober Enough.

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.

No Man Tastes Pleasures Truly, Who Does Not Earn Them By Previous Business; And Few People Do Business Well, Who Do Nothing Else.

Fear Invites Danger; Concealed Cowards Insult Known Ones.

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.

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.

Every Man Is To Be Had One Way Or Another And Every Woman Almost Anyway.

Men Are Much More Unwilling To Have Their Weaknesses And Their Imperfections Known Than Their Crimes.

Women Especially As To Be Talked To As Below Men, And Above Children.

Give Dayrolles A Chair.

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.

The Power Of Applying Attention, Steady And Undissipated, To A Single Object, Is The Sure Mark Of Superior Genius.

When A Man Is Once In Fashion, All He Does Is Right.

An Ignorant Man Is Insignificant And Contemptible; Nobody Cares For His Company, And He Can Just Be Said To Live, And That Is All.

There Is Time Enough For Everything In The Course Of The Day If You Do But One Thing Once; But There Is Not Time Enough In The Year If You Will Do Two Things At A Time.

It Must Be Owned, That The Graces Do Not Seem To Be Natives Of Great Britain; And I Doubt, The Best Of Us Here Have More Of Rough Than Polished Diamond.

Pocket All Your Knowledge With Your Watch, And Never Pull It Out In Company Unless Desired.

Be Wiser Than Other People If You Can; But Do Not Tell Them So.

Whoever Plays Deep Must Necessarily Lose His Money Or His Character.

Two People Cannot Be Alone Together For Upwards Of Half An Hour Without One Emerging As The Superior.

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Hector Elizondo

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