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To Please People Is A Great Step Towards Persuading Them.
-Lord Chesterfield
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To Please People Is

Lord Chesterfield
...
To Please People Is A Great Step Towards Persuading Them.

Understanding the Quote: "to please people is a great step towards persuading them...."

This quote by Lord Chesterfield reflects deeply on the theme of people. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under People, Steps, Persuasion, 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 people and steps. 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
People
Steps
Persuasion
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Whoever Plays Deep Must Necessarily Lose His Money Or His Character.
Character
Gambling
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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
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Learn To Shrink Yourself To The Size Of The Company You Are In. Take Their Tone, Whatever It May Be, And Excell In It If You Can;but Never Pretend To Give The Tone. A Free Conversation Will No More Bear A Dictator Than A Free Government Will.
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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.
Men
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A Proper Secrecy Is The Only Mystery Of Able Men; Mystery Is The Only Secrecy Of Weak And Cunning Ones.
Men
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The Most Familiar And Intimate Habitudes, Connections, Friendships, Require A Degree Of Good-breeding Both To Preserve And Cement Them.
Friendship
Degrees
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The Nation Looked Upon Him As A Deserter, And He Shrunk Into Insignificancy And An Earldom.
Character
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Fear Manifested Invites Danger.
Anticipation
Danger
Invites
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
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.
Running
Attention
Done
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.
Men
People
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An Able Man Shows His Spirit By Gentle Words And Resolute Actions.
Men
Able
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Either A Good Or A Bad Reputation Outruns And Gets Before People Wherever They Go.
People
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Deafness Produces Bizarre Effects, Reversing The Natural Order Of Things; The Interchange Of Letters Is The Conversation Of The Deaf, And The Only Link With Society. I Would Be In Despair, For Instance, Over Seeing You Speak, But, Instead, I Am Only Too Happy To Hear You Write.
Writing
Order
Despair
I Have, By Long Experience, Found Women To Be Like Telephus's Spear: If One End Kills, The Other Cures.
Women
Long
Ends
Dancing Is, In Itself, A Very Trifling And Silly Thing: But It Is One Of Those Established Follies To Which People Of Sense Are Sometimes Obliged To Conform; And Then They Should Be Able To Do It Well. And Though I Would Not Have You A Dancer, Yet, When You Do Dance, I Would Have You Dance Well, As I Would Have You Do Everything You Do Well.
Dance
Silly
People
Let It Be Your Maxim Through Life, To Know All You Can Know, Yourself; And Never To Trust Implicitly To The Information Of Others.
Trust
Knowledge
Independence
Two People Cannot Be Alone Together For Upwards Of Half An Hour Without One Emerging As The Superior.
Communication
Two
People
Knowledge Of The World In Only To Be Acquired In The World, And Not In A Closet.
Education
Knowledge
World
He Adorned Whatever Subject He Either Spoke Or Wrote Upon, By The Most Splendid Eloquence.
Inspirational
Character
Splendid
A Man Who Tells Nothing, Or Who Tells All, Will Equally Have Nothing Told Him.
Equality
Men
I Assisted At The Birth Of That Most Significant Word "flirtation," Which Dropped From The Most Beautiful Mouth In The World.
Beautiful
World
Mouths
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.
Success
Loss
Degrees
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.
Generosity
Littles
Rewards
Choose The Company Of Your Superiors Whenever You Can Have It.
Company
Superiors
Love Has Been Not Unaptly Compared To The Small-pox, Which Most People Have Sooner Or Later.
Love
People
Pox
Young Men Are As Apt To Think Themselves Wise Enough, As Drunken Men Are To Think Themselves Sober Enough. They Look Upon Spirit To Be A Much Better Thing Than Experience; Which They Call Coldness. They Are But Half Mistaken; For Though Spirit Without Experience Is Dangerous, Experience Without Spirit Is Languid And Ineffective.
Wise
Men
Thinking
When A Person Is In Fashion, All They Do Is Right.
Fashion
Clothes
Clothes And Fashion
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.
Book
Reading
Editors
Study The Heart And The Mind Of Man, And Begin With Your Own. Meditation And Reflection Must Lay The Foundation Of That Knowledge, But Experience And Practice Must, And Alone Can, Complete It.
Heart
Reflection
Men
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
You Must Be Respectful And Assenting, But Without Being Servile And Abject. You Must Be Frank, But Without Indiscretion, And Close, Without Being Costive. You Must Keep Up Dignity Of Character, Without The Least Pride Of Birth, Or Rank. You Must Be Gay, Within All The Bounds Of Decency And Respect; And Grave, Without The Affectation Of Wisdom, Which Does Not Become The Age Of Twenty. You Must Be Essentially Secret, Without Being Dark And Mysterious. You Must Be Firm, And Even Bold, But With Great Seeming Modesty.
Character
Gay
Dark
Nature Has Hardly Formed A Woman Ugly Enough To Be Insensible To Flattery Upon Her Person.
Ugly
Flattery
Enough
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.
Character
Hands
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There Never Were, Since The Creation Of The World, Two Cases Exactly Parallel.
Two
World
Earth
I Wish... That You Had As Much Pleasure In Following My Advice, As I Have In Giving It.
Giving
Advice
Wish
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
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There Is A Sort Of Veteran Women Of Condition, Who, Having Lived Always In The Grand Mode, And Having Possibly Had Some Gallantries, Together With The Experience Of Five And Twenty Or Thirty Years, Form A Young Fellow Better Than All The Rules That Can Be Given Him.
Women
Years
Together
In The Course Of The World, A Man Must Very Often Put On An Easy, Frank Countenance, Upon Very Disagreeable Occasions; He Must Seem Pleased, When He Is Very Much Otherwise; He Must Be Able To Accost And Receive With Smiles, Those Whom He Would Much Rather Meet With Swords.
Patience
Men
Tolerance
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
Give Nobly To Indigent Merit, And Do Not Refuse Your Charity Even To Those Who Have Not Merit But Their Misery.
Giving
Charity
Merit
Advice Is Seldom Welcome, And Those Who Need It The Most, Like It The Least.
Advice
Balance
Needs
Second-rate Knowledge, And Middling Talents, Carry A Man Farther At Courts, And In The Busy Part Of The World, Than Superior Knowledge And Shining Parts.
Knowledge
Men
Shining
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
People Will No More Advance Their Civility To A Bear, Than Their Money To A Bankrupt.
People
Bears
Civility
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.
People
Muzzle
Egotism
A Certain Degree Of Fear Produces The Same Effects As Rashness.
Fear
Degrees
Produce
To This Principle Of Vanity, Which Philosophers Call A Mean One, And Which I Do Not, I Owe A Great Part Of The Figure Which I Have Made In Life.
Mean
Vanity
Principles
The Scholar Without Good Breeding Is A Pedant; The Philosopher, A Cynic.
Philosophy
Pedants
Philosopher
Men Are Much More Unwilling To Have Their Weaknesses And Their Imperfections Known, Than Their Crimes; And, If You Hint To A Man That You Think Him Silly, Ignorant, Or Even Ill-bred Or Awkward, He Will Hate You More, And Longer, Than If You Tell Him Plainly That You Think Him A Rogue.
Hate
Silly
Men
Whatever Poets May Write, Or Fools Believe, Of Rural Innocence And Truth, And Of The Perfidy Of Courts, This Is Most Undoubtedly True,--that Shepherds And Ministers Are Both Men; Their Natures And Passions The Same, The Modes Of Them Only Different.
Believe
Passion
Writing
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.
Turns
Justify
Prettiness
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
I Love Every-day Senses, Every-day Wit And Entertainment; A Man Who Is Only Good On Holidays, Is Good For Very Little.
Holiday
Men
Littles
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
No Man Can Possibly Improve In Any Company For Which He Has Not Respect Enough To Be Under Some Degree Of Restraint.
Men
Degrees
Enough
Let Them Show Me A Cottage Where There Are Not The Same Vices Of Which They Accuse The Courts.
Vices
Cottages
Court
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
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
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.
Men
Long
Fool
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
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
You Must Embrace The Man You Hate, If You Cannot Be Justified In Knocking Him Down.
Hate
Men
Justified
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.
Reflection
Years
Clothes
A Learned Parson, Rusting In His Cell At Oxford Or Cambridge, Will Reason Admirably Well Upon The Nature Of Man; Will Profoundly Analyze The Head, The Heart, The Reason, The Will, The Passions, The Senses, The Sentiments, And All Those Subdivisions Of We Know Not What ; And Yet, Unfortunately, He Knows Nothing Of Man... He Views Man As He Does Colours In Sir Isaac Newton's Prism, Where Only The Capital Ones Are Seen; But An Experienced Dyer Knows All Their Various Shades And Gradations, Together With The Result Of Their Several Mixtures.
Ignorance
Passion
Learning
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.
Horse
Laughter
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To Please People Is A Great Step Towards Persuading Them.
People
Steps
Persuasion
Choose Your Pleasures For Yourself, And Do Not Let Them Be Imposed Upon You.
Pleasure
A Man's Own Good Breeding Is The Best Security Against Other People's Ill Manners.
Inspirational
Men
People
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.
Revenge
Men
Return
Good Humor Is The Health Of The Soul, Sadness Is Its Poison.
Sad
Depressing
Inspiration
Most Arts Require Long Study And Application, But The Most Useful Art Of All, That Of Pleasing, Requires Only The Desire.
Art
Long
Desire
I Recommend You To Take Care Of The Minutes, For The Hours Will Take Care Of Themselves.
Positive
Time
Care
It Is Reported Here That The King Of Prussia Has Gone Mad And Has Been Locked Up. There Would Be Nothing Bad About That: At Leastthat Might Of His Would No Longer Be A Menace, And You Could Breathe Freely For A While. I Much Prefer Madmen Who Are Locked Up To Those Who Are Not.
Kings
Mad
Prussia
Men Will Not Believe Because They Will Not Broaden Their Minds.
Believe
Men
Mind
To Govern Mankind, One Must Not Overrate Them.
Mankind
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.
Army
Power
Thinking
Most People Enjoy The Inferiority Of Their Best Friends.
Friendship
Best Friend
Funny Friend
The Manner Of A Vulgar Man Has Freedom Without Ease, And The Manner Of A Gentleman Has Ease Without Freedom.
Men
Gentleman
Ease
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
Inferiority Is What You Enjoy In Your Best Friends.
Inferiority
Your Best Friend
Enjoy
Speak The Language Of The Company You Are In; Speak It Purely, And Unlarded With Any Other.
Language
Speak
Company
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
One Of The Greatest Difficulties In Civil War Is, That More Art Is Required To Know What Should Be Concealed From Our Friends, Than What Ought To Be Done Against Our Enemies.
Friends
Art
War
Never Put Off Till Tomorrow What You Can Do Today.
Inspirational
Motivational
Time
Gold And Silver Are But Merchandise, As Well As Cloth Or Linen; And That Nation That Buys The Least, And Sells The Most, Must Always Have The Most Money.
Money
Gold
Silver
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
In Friendship, As Well As In Love, The Mind Is Often The Dupe Of The Heart.
Love
Friendship
Heart
Whenever A Man Seeks Your Advice He Generally Seeks Your Praise.
Men
Advice
Praise
To Take A Wife Merely As An Agreeable And Rational Companion, Will Commonly Be Found To Be A Grand Mistake.
Mistake
Wife
Found
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.
Character
Men
Personality
Whatever Is Worth Doing At All Is Worth Doing Well.
Life
Standards
Wells
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
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
Fear Invites Danger; Concealed Cowards Insult Known Ones.
Fear
Coward
Insult
In Order To Judge Of The Inside Of Others, Study Your Own; For Men In General Are Very Much Alike; And Though One Has One Prevailing Passion, And Another Has Another, Yet Their Operations Are Much The Same; And Whatever Engages Or Disgusts, Pleases Or Offends You, In Others, Will, Mutatis Mutandis, Engage, Disgust, Please, Or Offend Others, In You.
Passion
Men
Order
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.
Dog
Eye
Play
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
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.
Believe
Ignorance
Thinking
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
The Late Président De Montesquieu Told Me That He Knew How To Be Blind--he Had Been So For Such A Long Time--but I Swear That I Do Not Know How To Be Deaf: I Cannot Get Used To It, And I Am As Humiliated And Distressed By It Today As I Was During The First Week. No Philosophy In The World Can Palliate Deafness.
Philosophy
Long
World
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 Matters Of Religion And Matrimony I Never Give Any Advice; Because I Will Not Have Anybody's Torments In This World Or The Next Laid To My Charge.
Funny
Humorous
Giving
Ugliness Is A Letter Of Credit For Some Special Purposes.
Special
Purpose
Credit
A Seeming Ignorance Is Very Often A Most Necessary Part Of Worldly Knowledge. It Is, For Instance, Commonly Advisable To Seem Ignorant Of What People Offer To Tell You; And When They Say, Have Not You Heard Of Such A Thing? To Answer No, And To Let Them Go On, Though You Know It Already.
Ignorance
Knowledge
People
I Look Upon Indolence As A Sort Of Suicide; For The Man Is Effectually Destroyed, Though The Appetites Of The Brute May Survive.
Suicide
Men
Looks
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
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
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.
Education
Giving
Age
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
History Is But A Confused Heap Of Facts.
Confused
History
Facts
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.
Eye
People
Mind
In The Case Of Scandal, As In That Of Robbery, The Receiver Is Always Thought As Bad As The Thief.
Thieves
Scandal
Cases
Firmness Of Purpose Is One Of The Best Instruments Of Success.
Success
Mazes
Purpose
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
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
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
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
Whoever Is In A Hurry Shows That The Thing He Is About Is Too Big For Him.
Powerful
Work
Haste
The Heart Has Such An Influence Over The Understanding, That It Is Worth While To Engage It In Our Interest.
Heart
Understanding
Influence
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
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
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.
Wise
Wisdom
Maturity
Modesty Is The Only Sure Bait When You Angle For Praise.
Humility
Bait
Modesty
Remember, That When I Speak Of Pleasures I Always Mean The Elegant Pleasures Of A Rational Being, And Not The Brutal Ones Of A Swine. I Mean La Bonne Chère, Short Of Gluttony; Wine, Infinitely Short Of Drunkenness; Play, Without The Least Gaming; And Gallantry, Without Debauchery.
Wine
Mean
Play
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
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
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.
Life
Motivational
Positive
The Power Of Applying Attention, Steady And Undissipated, To A Single Object, Is The Sure Mark Of Superior Genius.
Focus
Attention
Genius
A Man Of Fashion Never Has Recourse To Proverbs, And Vulgar Aphorisms; Uses Neither Favourite Words Nor Hard Words, But Takes Great Care To Speak Very Correctly And Grammatically, And To Pronounce Properly; That Is, According To The Usage Of The Best Companies.
Fashion
Men
Use
The Vulgar Only Laugh, But Never Smile; Whereas Well-bred People Often Smile, But Seldom Laugh.
Laughter
People
Laughing
I Sometimes Give Myself Admirable Advice, But I Am Incapable Of Taking It.
Funny
Giving
Advice
Religion Is By No Means A Proper Subject Of Conversation In Mixed Company; It Should Only Be Treated Among A Very Few People Of Learning, For Mutual Instruction. It Is Too Awful And Respectable A Subject To Become A Familiar One.
Mean
People
Religion
Elegance Of Manner Is The Outgrowth Of Refined And Exalted Sense.
Elegance
Exalted
Refined
Polished Brass Will Pass Upon More People Than Rough Gold.
People
Gold
Appearance
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.
Country
Men
Different
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.
Men
Order
Secret
The Value Of Moments, When Cast Up, Is Immense, If Well Employed; If Thrown Away, Their Loss Is Irrecoverable.
Loss
Carpe Diem
Moments
Statesmen And Beauties Are Very Rarely Sensible Of The Gradations Of Their Decay.
Age
Decay
Youth
Unlike My Subject Will I Frame My Song, It Shall Be Witty And It Shan't Be Long.
Witty
Song
Long
Real Friendship Is A Slow Grower.
Real
Real Friends
Real Friendship
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
A Vulgar Man Is Captious And Jealous; Eager And Impetuous About Trifles. He Suspects Himself To Be Slighted, And Thinks Everything That Is Said Meant At Him.
Jealous
Men
Thinking
Observe Any Meetings Of People, And You Will Always Find Their Eagerness And Impetuosity Rise Or Fall In Proportion To Their Numbers.
Fall
Numbers
People
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.
Education
Country
Latin
It Seems To Me That Physical Sickness Softens, Just As Moral Sickness Hardens, The Heart.
Heart
Moral
Sickness
Young Men Are Apt To Think Themselves Wise Enough, As Drunken Men Are Apt To Think Themselves Sober Enough.
Wise
Time
Ignorance
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
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.
People
Tolerance
Way
Knowledge May Give Weight, But Accomplishments Give Luster, And Many More People See Than Weigh.
Inspirational
Knowledge
People
Distrust Those Who Love You Extremely Upon A Slight Acquaintance, And Without Any Visible Reason.
Friendship
Trust
Love You
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
Distance
Night
Fool
Sexual Intercourse Is A Grossly Overrated Pastime; The Position Is Undignified, The Pleasure Momentary And The Consequences Damnable.
Funny
Pleasure
Pastime
The Mere Brute Pleasure Of Reading - The Sort Of Pleasure A Cow Must Have In Grazing.
Reading
Cows
Pleasure
The Heart Never Grows Better By Age; I Fear Rather Worse; Always Harder.
Heart
Age
Knaves
There Is Hardly Anybody Good For Everything, And There Is Scarcely Anybody Who Is Absolutely Good For Nothing.
In My Mind, There Is Nothing So Illiberal, And So Ill-bred, As Audible Laughter.
Funny
Laughter
Humorous
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
Persist And Persevere, And You Will Find Most Things That Are Attainable, Possible.
Perseverance
Persistence
Persevere
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.
Morning
People
House
Seek Always For The Best Words And The Happiest Expression You Can Find.
Expression
Language
Artichoke: That Vegetable Of Which One Has More At The Finish Than At The Start Of Dinner.
Food
Vegetables
Cooking
Patience Is The Most Necessary Quality For Business, Many A Man Would Rather You Heard His Story Than Grant His Request.
Patience
Business
Men
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
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
It May Be Objected, That I Am Now Recommending Dissimulation To You; I Both Own And Justify It. It Has Been Long Said: Qui Nescitdissimular Nescit Regnare: I Go Still Farther, And Say, That Without Some Dissimulation, No Business Can Be Carried On At All.
Lying
Long
Deceit
Wear Your Knowledge Like Your Watch - In You Pocket - And Don't Pull It Out Just For Show.
Pockets
Watches
Like You
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
People Hate Who Makes You Feel One's Inferiority.
Hate
People
Inferiority
Wit Is So Shining A Quality That Everybody Admires It; Most People Aim At It, All People Fear It, And Few Love It Unless In Themselves. A Man Must Have A Good Share Of Wit Himself To Endure A Great Share Of It In Another.
Men
People
Shining
A Man Must Have A Good Share Of Wit Himself To Endure A Great Share In Another.
Men
Share
Endure
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
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
Were You To Converse With A King, You Ought To Be As Easy And Unembarrassed As With Your Own Valet-de Chambre; But Yet Every Look,word, And Action Should Imply The Utmost Respect.... You Must Wait Till You Are Spoken To; You Must Receive, Not Give, The Subject Of Conversation, And You Must Even Take Care That The Given Subject Of Such Conversation Do Not Lead You Into Any Impropriety.
Kings
Giving
Waiting
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
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.
Letters
Easy
Natural
If You Would Convince Others, Seem Open To Conviction Yourself.
Persuasion
Conviction
Convincing
Next To Doing Things That Deserve To Be Written, Nothing Gets A Man More Credit, Or Gives Him More Pleasure Than To Write Things That Deserve To Be Read.
Writing
Men
Giving
Manners Must Adorn Knowledge And Smooth Its Way Through The World.
Jewels
World
Way
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
Never Hold Anyone By The Button Or The Hand In Order To Be Heard Out; For If People Are Unwilling To Hear You, You Had Better Hold Your Tongue Than Them.
Hands
Order
People
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
We Are As Often Duped By Diffidence As By Confidence.
Confidence
Diffidence
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
A Man's Fortune Is Frequently Decided By His First Address. If Pleasing, Others At Once Conclude He Has Merit; But If Ungraceful, They Decide Against Him.
Men
Pleasing Others
Merit
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
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
Style Is The Dress Of Thoughts, And Let Them Be Ever So Just.
Fashion
Clothes
Style
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
Learning Is Acquired By Reading Books; Much More Necessary Learning, The Knowledge Of The World, Is Only To Be Acquired By Reading Men, And Studying All The Various Editions Of Them.
Book
Reading
Learning
People Will, In A Great Degree, And Not Without Reason, Form Their Opinion Of You Upon That Which They Have Of Your Friends; And There Is A Spanish Proverb Which Says Vry Justly, 'tell Me Whom You Live With, And I Will Tell You Who You Are.'
Friendship
People
Degrees
Men, As Well As Women, Are Much Oftener Led By Their Hearts Than By Their Understandings.
Inspirational
Heart
Men
If You Will Please People, You Must Please Them In Their Own Way.
People
Way
Please
The Less One Has To Do, The Less Time One Finds To Do It In.
Inspirational
Funny
Life
Women, Then, Are Only Children Of A Larger Growth
Children
Growth
Only Child
You Must Be Respectable, If You Will Be Respected.
Respectable
Ifs
He Makes People Pleased With Him By Making Them First Pleased With Themselves.
People
Firsts
Persuasion
Hear One Side And You Will Be In The Dark. Hear Both And All Will Be Clear.
Dark
Sides
Argument
Good Breeding Is The Result Of Good Sense, Some Good Nature, And A Little Self-denial For The Sake Of Others.
Self
Denial
Littles
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.
Country
Law
Liberty
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