Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield - Man Quotes

45 Sourced Quotes

View all Philip Stanhope Quotes
The characteristic of a well-bred man is, to converse with his inferiors without insolence, and with his superiors with respect and with ease.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
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.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
The greatest powers cannot injure a man's character whose reputation is unblemished among his party.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
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.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
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.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
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.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
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.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
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.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
Truth, but not the whole truth, must be the invariable principle of every man who hath either religion, honour, or prudence. Thosewho violate it, may be cunning, but they are not able. Lies and perfidy are the refuge of fools and cowards.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
All ceremonies are in themselves very silly things; but yet, a man of the world should know them. They are the outworks of Mannersand Decency, which would be too often broken in upon, if it were not for that defence, which keeps the enemy at a proper distance.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
An able man shows his spirit by gentle words and resolute actions.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
When you have found out the prevailing passion of any man, remember never to trust him where that passion is concerned.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
Every man becomes, to a certain degree, what the people he generally converses with are.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
Every man is to be had one way or another and every woman almost anyway.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
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.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
I look upon indolence as a sort of suicide; for the man is effectually destroyed, though the appetites of the brute may survive.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
The only solid and lasting peace between a man and his wife is, doubtless, a separation.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
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.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
Mankind is made up of inconsistencies, and no man acts invariably up to his predominant character. The wisest man sometimes acts weakly, and the weakest sometimes wisely.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
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.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
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.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
No man tastes pleasures truly, who does not earn them by previous business; and few people do business well, who do nothing else.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
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.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
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.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
You must embrace the man you hate, if you cannot be justified in knocking him down.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
The reputation of generosity is to be purchased pretty cheap; it does not depend so much upon a man's general expense, as it does upon his giving handsomely where it is proper to give at all. A man, for instance, who should give a servant four shillings, would pass for covetous, while he who gave him a crown, would be reckoned generous; so that the difference of those two opposite characters, turns upon one shilling.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
A man who tells nothing, or who tells all, will equally have nothing told him.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
Every woman is infallibly to be gained by every sort of flattery, and every man by one sort or other.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
I love every-day senses, every-day wit and entertainment; a man who is only good on holidays, is good for very little.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
It is a great advantage for any man to be able to talk or hear, neither ignorantly nor absurdly, upon any subject; for I have known people, who have not said one word, hear ignorantly and absurdly; it has appeared by their inattentive and unmeaning faces.

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield