A gentleman has ease without familiarity, is respectful without meanness; genteel without affectation, insinuating without seeming art.
Lord ChesterfieldRemember that the wit, humour, and jokes of most mixed companies are local. They thrive in that particular soil, but will not often bear transplanting.
Lord ChesterfieldMost people have ears, but few have judgment; tickle those ears, and depend upon it, you will catch their judgments, such as they are.
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 ChesterfieldWrongs are often forgiven, but contempt never is. Our pride remembers it forever. It implies a discovery of weakness, which we are more careful to conceal than a crime. Many a man will confess his crimes to a friend; but I never knew a man that would tell his silly weaknesses to his most intimate one.
Lord Chesterfield