James Burgh - The Dignity of Human Nature (1762)

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There is hardly any bodily blemish which a winning behaviour will not conceal, or make tolerable; and there is no external grace which ill-nature or affectation will not deform.

James Burgh
Value truth, however you come by it. Who would not pick up a jewel that lay on a dunghill?

James Burgh
Praise your friends, and let your friends praise you.

James Burgh
Good humour is the only shield to keep off the darts of the satirical railer: if you have a quiver well stored, and are sure of hitting him between the joints of the harness, do not spare him; but you had better not bend your bow than miss your aim.

James Burgh
If you want to gain any man's good opinion, take particular care how you behave the first time you are in company with him; the light you appear in at first, to one who is neither inclinable to think well nor ill of you, will strongly prejudice him either for or against you.

James Burgh
Make your company a rarity, and people will value it. Men despise what they can easily have.

James Burgh
If you would not have affliction visit you twice, listen at once to what it teaches.

James Burgh
There is no occasion to trample upon the meanest reptile, nor to sneak to the greatest prince. Insolence and baseness are equally unmanly.

James Burgh
Do not sit dumb in company; it will be ascribed either to pride, cunning, or stupidity: give your opinion modestly, but freely; hear that of others with candour; and ever endeavour to find out, and to communicate truth.

James Burgh
In mixed company, be readier to hear than to speak, and put people upon talking of what is in their own way; for then you will both oblige them, and be most likely to improve by their conversation.

James Burgh
If you mean to make your side of the argument appear plausible, do not prejudice the people against what you think truth by your passionate manner of defending it.

James Burgh
To offer advice to an angry man, is like blowing against a tempest.

James Burgh
Do not endeavour to shine in all companies. Leave room for your hearers to imagine something within you beyond all you have said. And remember, the more you are praised, the more you will be envied.

James Burgh
In the midst of mirth, reflect that many of your fellow creatures round the world are expiring; and that your turn will come shortly. So will you keep your life uniform and free from excess.

James Burgh
The beauty of behaviour consists in the manner more than the matter of your discourse.

James Burgh
In disputes upon moral or scientific points, ever let your aim be to come at truth, not to conquer your opponent: so you never shall be at a loss in losing the argument, and gaining a new discovery.

James Burgh
Fools pretend to foretell what will be the issue of things, and are laughed at for their awkward conjectures. Wise men being aware of the uncertainty of human aflairs, and having observed how small a matter often produces a great change, are modest in their conjectures.

James Burgh
Insult not another for his want of a talent you possess: He may have others which you want.

James Burgh
If you would have a right to account of things from illiterate people, let them tell their story in their own way; if you put them upon talking according to logical rules, you will confound them.

James Burgh
Be careful of your word, even in keeping the most trifling appointment. But do not blame another for a failure of that kind till you have heard his excuse.

James Burgh
Reproof is a medicine like mercury or opium; if it be improperly administered it will do harm instead of good.

James Burgh
What may be very entertaining in company with ignorant people may be tiresome to those who know more of the matter.

James Burgh
Do well, but do not boast of it; for that will lessen the commendation you might otherwise have deserved.

James Burgh
Never offer advice but where there is some probability ef its being followed.

James Burgh
Nothing is more unmannerly than to reflect on any man's profession, sect, or natural infirmity. He who stirs up against himself another's self-love, provokes the strongest passion in human nature.

James Burgh