520 Quotes by Lord Chesterfield

Our prejudices are our mistresses; reason is at best our wife, very often heard indeed, but seldom minded.

Wear your learning like your watch, in a private pocket; and do not pull it out and strike it merely to show that you have one

Ties of blood are not always ties of friendship; but friendship founded on merit, on esteem, and on mutual trust, becomes more vital and more tender when strengthened by the ties of blood.

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.

A judicious reticence is hard to learn, but it is one of the great lessons of life.

There never were, since the creation of the world, two cases exactly parallel.

In friendship, as well as in love, the mind is often the dupe of the heart.

Wear your learning like your watch, in a private pocket; and do not pull it out, and strike it, merely to show that you have one.

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.