49 quotes
In short, let it be your maxim through life, to know all you can know, yourself; and never to trust implicitly to the informations of others.
Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman (1774)
Whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well.
Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman (1774)
The young leading the young, is like the blind leading the blind; “they will both fall into the ditch.”
Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman (1774)
Knowledge may give weight, but accomplishments give luster, and many more people see than weigh.
Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman (1774)
Advice is seldom welcome; and those who want it the most always like it the least.
Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman (1774)
In my mind, there is nothing so illiberal and so ill-bred, as audible laughter.
Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman (1774)
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."
Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman (1774)
Women are much more like each other than men: they have, in truth, but two passions, vanity and love; these are their universal characteristics.
Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman (1774)
An injury is much sooner forgotten than an insult.
Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman (1774)
Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination: never put off till to-morrow what you can do to-day.
Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman (1774)
Manners must adorn knowledge, and smooth its way through the world. Like a great rough diamond, it may do very well in a closet by way of curiosity, and also for its intrinsic value.
Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman (1774)
The knowledge of the world is only to be acquired in the world, and not in a closet.
Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman (1774)
The world is a country which nobody ever yet knew by description; one must travel through it one's self to be acquainted with it.
Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman (1774)
A proper secrecy is the only mystery of able men; mystery is the only secrecy of weak and cunning ones.
Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman (1774)
It is commonly said, and more particularly by Lord Shaftesbury, that ridicule is the best test of truth.
Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman (1774)
People will no more advance their civility to a bear, than their money to a bankrupt.
Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman (1774)
Be wiser than other people if you can; but do not tell them so.
Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman (1774)
Courts and camps are the only places to learn the world in.
Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman (1774)
The characteristic of a well-bred man is, to converse with his inferiors without insolence, and with his superiors with respect and with ease.
Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman (1774)
Let this be one invariable rule of your conduct—never to show the least symptom of resentment, which you cannot, to a certain degree, gratify; but always to smile, where you cannot strike.
Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman (1774)