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Lord Chesterfield Quotes

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A weak mind is like a microscope, which magnifies trifling things but cannot receive great ones.

A weak mind is like a microscope, which magnifies trifling things but cannot receive great ones.

Lord Chesterfield
Education, Ignorance, Perspective
"Many Thoughts of Many Minds" edited by Henry Southgate, 1862.

Advice is seldom welcome, and those who need it the most, like it the least.

Lord Chesterfield
Advice, Balance, Needs

I recommend you to take care of the minutes, for the hours will take care of themselves.

Lord Chesterfield
Positive, Time, Care

If we do not plant knowledge when young, it will give us no shade when we are old.

Lord Chesterfield
Inspirational, Teacher, Teaching

Sex: the pleasure is momentary, the position ridiculous, and the expense damnable.

Lord Chesterfield
Witty, Sex, Ridiculous
Attributed in W. Somerset Maugham, Christmas Holiday (1939)

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.

Lord Chesterfield
Learning, People, Pockets
'Letters to his Son' (1774) 22 February 1748

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.

Lord Chesterfield
Life, Motivational, Positive
"Lord Chesterfield's Advice to His Son, on Men and Manners: Or, A New System of Education". Book by Philip Dormer Stanhope Earl of Chesterfield, 1815.

Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well.

Lord Chesterfield
Life, Standards, Wells
Letters to His Son, 10 Mar. 1746

The talent of insinuation is more useful than that of persuasion, as everybody is open to insinuation, but scarce any to persuasion.

Lord Chesterfield
Gossip, Talent, Persuasion
Lord Philip Dormer Stanhope Chesterfield, Philip Dormer Stanhope Earl of Chesterfield (1855). “The Works of Lord Chesterfield: Including His Letters to His Son, Etc : to which is Prefixed, an Original Life of the Author”, p.629

Cultivate the habit of thinking ahead, and of anticipating the necessary and immediate consequences of all your actions.... Likewise in your pleasures, ask yourself what such and such an amusement leads to, as it is essential to have an objective in everything you do. Any pastime that contributes nothing to bodily strength or to mental alertness is a totally ridiculous, not to say, idiotic, pleasure.

Lord Chesterfield
Motivation, Thinking, Alertness Is

Persist and persevere, and you will find most things that are attainable, possible.

Lord Chesterfield
Perseverance, Persistence, Persevere

Wrongs are often forgiven; but contempt never is. Our pride remembers it forever.

Lord Chesterfield
Forgiveness, Pride, Forever
"Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman". Book by Lord Chesterfield, 1774.

Hear one side and you will be in the dark. Hear both and all will be clear.

Lord Chesterfield
Dark, Sides, Argument

Firmness of purpose is one of the best instruments of success.

Lord Chesterfield
Success, Mazes, Purpose

Without any extraordinary effort of genius, I have discovered that nature was the same three thousand years ago as at present; that men were but men then as well as now; that modes and customs vary often, but that human nature is always the same. And I can no more suppose, that men were better, braver, or wiser, fifteen hundred or three thousand years ago, than I can suppose that the animals or vegetables were better than they are now.

Lord Chesterfield
Animal, Men, Vegetables

In my mind, there is nothing so illiberal, and so ill-bred, as audible laughter.

Lord Chesterfield
Funny, Laughter, Humorous
'Letters to his Son' (1774) 9 March 1748.

Distrust those who love you extremely upon a slight acquaintance, and without any visible reason.

Lord Chesterfield
Friendship, Trust, Love You
"The Modern Chesterfield".

You must look into people, as well as at them.

Lord Chesterfield
Relationship, Men, People
Lord Chesterfield, David Roberts (2008). “Lord Chesterfield's Letters”, p.44, Oxford University Press

Cardinal Mazarin was a great knave, but no great man; much more cunning than able; scandalously false and dirtily greedy.

Lord Chesterfield
Character, Men, Greed
Lord Philip Dormer Stanhope Chesterfield, Eugenia Stanhope (1827). “Letters Written by the Earl of Chesterfield to His Son”, p.355

An honest man may really love a pretty girl, but only an idiot marries her merely because she is pretty.

Lord Chesterfield
Love, Marriage, Girl

Whenever a man seeks your advice he generally seeks your praise.

Lord Chesterfield
Men, Advice, Praise

Women's beauty, like men's wit, is generally fatal to the owners.

Lord Chesterfield
Beauty, Men, Owners

People hate those who make them feel their own inferiority.

Lord Chesterfield
Hate, People, Inferiority
Lord Philip Dormer Stanhope Chesterfield, Philip Dormer Stanhope Earl of Chesterfield (1855). “The Works of Lord Chesterfield: Including His Letters to His Son, Etc : to which is Prefixed, an Original Life of the Author”, p.337

Never yield to that temptation, which, to most young men, is very strong, of exposing other people's weaknesses and infirmities, for the sake either of diverting the company, or of showing your own superiority. You may get the laugh on your side by it for the present; but you will make enemies by it for ever; and even those who laugh with you then, will, upon reflection, fear, and consequently hate you.

Lord Chesterfield
Strong, Hate, Reflection
Lord Chesterfield, David Roberts (2008). “Lord Chesterfield's Letters”, p.93, Oxford University Press

Aim at perfection in everything, though in most things it is unattainable. However, they who aim at it, and persevere, will come much nearer to it than those whose laziness and despondency make them give it up as unattainable.

Lord Chesterfield
Giving, Perfection, Laziness
Lord Philip Dormer Stanhope Chesterfield, Eugenia Stanhope (1827). “Letters Written by the Earl of Chesterfield to His Son”, p.185

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