Mind not only what people say, but how they say it; and if you have any sagacity, you may discover more truth by your eyes than by your ears. People can say what they will, but they cannot look just as they will; and their looks frequently (reveal) what their words are calculated to conceal.
Lord ChesterfieldHalf the business is done, when one has gained the heart and the affections of those with whom one is to transact it.
Lord ChesterfieldGood breeding and good nature do incline us rather to help and raise people up to ourselves, than to mortify and depress them, and, in truth, our own private interest concurs in it, as it is making ourselves so many friends, instead of so many enemies.
Lord ChesterfieldTrue politeness is perfect ease and freedom. It simply consists in treating others just as you love to be treated yourself.
Lord ChesterfieldCottages have them (falsehood and dissimulation) as well as courts, only with worse manners.
Lord ChesterfieldIn business be as able as you can, but do not be cunning; cunning is the dark sanctuary of incapacity.
Lord ChesterfieldEndeavor, as much as you can, to keep company with people above you.... Do not mistake, when I say company above you, and think that I mean with regard to their birth; that is the least consideration; but I mean with regard to their merit, and the light in which the world considers them.
Lord Chesterfield