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A proper secrecy is the only mystery of able men; mystery is the only secrecy of weak and cunning ones.

— Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman (1774)

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More quotes by Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

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)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.