Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield Quotes & Sayings (Page 2)

“A wise man will live as much within his wit as within his income.”

“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.”

“Learning is acquired by reading books, but the much more necessary learning, the knowledge of the world, is only to be acquired by reading men, and studying all the various facets of them.”

“A young man, be his merit what it will, can never raise himself; but must, like the ivy round the oak, twine himself round some man of great power and interest.”

“Never seem more learned than the people you are with. Wear your learning like a pocket watch and keep it hidden. Do not pull it out to count the hours, but give the time when you are asked.”

“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.”

“Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well.”

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

“Character must be kept bright as well as clean.”

“Every man becomes, to a certain degree, what the people he generally converses with are.”