Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

“An injury is much sooner forgotten than an insult.”

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

“Manners must adorn knowledge, and smooth its way through the world.”

“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.”

“A man's own good breeding is the best security against other people's ill manners.”

“Dispatch is the soul of business.”

“Speak of the moderns without contempt, and of the ancients without idolatry; judge them all by their merits, but not by their age.”

“Style is the dress of thoughts.”

“Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it.”

“Patience is a most necessary quality for business; many a man would rather you heard his story than granted his request.”

“Advice is seldom welcome; and those who want it the most, always like it the least.”

“Firmness of purpose is one of the most necessary sinews of character, and one of the best instruments of success.”

“Knowledge is a comfortable and necessary retreat and shelter for us in an advanced age; and if we do not plant it when young, it will give us no shade when we are old.”

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

“Idleness is only the refuge of weak minds, and the holiday of fools.”

“Knowledge may give weight, but accomplishments give lustre, and many more people see than weigh.”

“Take the tone of the company that you are in.”

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