Philip Dormer Stanhope
Philip Dormer Stanhope (1694-1773), Earl of Chesterfield, was a statesman, orator, and man of letters, eldest son of the third earl, born in London. He sat in the House of Commons from 1716 to 1726. He was an opponent of Walpole. He also held office under the Pelhams. In 1748, he retired from deafness, or perhaps disgust, into private life. He is celebrated for his "Letters to his Son," models of elegance, though of questionable morality, which it appears he never intended to publish, and for the scorn with which Dr. Johnson treated him when he offered to help him, after he no longer needed any, in a letter which gave the death-blow to the patronage of literature. Stanhope is credited by Carlyle with having predicted the French Revolution. It should be added, the "Letters" were printed by his son's widow.Wisdom & Quotes
- Be wiser than other people if you can, but do not tell them so.
- Style is the dress of thoughts.
- Whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well.
- An injury is much sooner forgotten than an insult.
- Human nature is the same all over the world.
- Take the tone of the company you are in.
- I knew once a very covetous, sordid fellow, who used to say, 'Take care of the pence, for the pounds will take care of themselves.'
- Advice is seldom welcome; and those who want it the most always like it the least.
- In my mind, there is nothing so illiberal and so ill-bred as audible laughter.
- Women who are either indisputably beautiful, or indisputably ugly, are best flattered upon the score of their understanding.
- Few people do business well who do nothing else.
- No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination; never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.
- Every woman is infallibly to be gained by every sort of flattery, and every man by one sort or other.
- Religion is by no means a proper subject of conversation in mixed company.
Francis Hutcheson