Philip Stanhope quotes:

If ever a man and his wife, or a man and his mistress, who pass nights as well as days together, absolutely lay aside all good breeding, their intimacy will soon degenerate into a coarse familiarity, infallibly productive of contempt or disgust.

Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination: never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.

Aim at perfection in everything, though in most things it is unattainable. However, they who aim at it, and persevere, will come much nearer to it than those whose laziness and despondency make them give it up as unattainable.

Swift speedy time, feathered with flying hours, Dissolves the beauty of the fairest brow.

Regularity in the hours of rising and retiring, perseverance in exercise, adaptation of dress to the variations of climate, simple and nutritious aliment, and temperance in all things are necessary branches of the regimen of health.

Persist and persevere, and you will find most things that are attainable, possible.

Good breeding is the result of good sense, some good nature, and a little self-denial for the sake of others.

Idleness is only the refuge of weak minds.

Any affectation whatsoever in dress implies, in my mind, a flaw in the understanding.

Whoever is in a hurry shows that the thing he is about is too big for him.

In seeking wisdom thou art wise; in imagining that thou hast attained it - thou art a fool.

I look upon indolence as a sort of suicide; for the man is effectually destroyed, though the appetites of the brute may survive.

Modesty is the only sure bait when you angle for praise.

A man of sense only trifles with them, plays with them, humors and flatters them, as he does with a sprightly and forward child; but he neither consults them about, nor trusts them with, serious matters.

A young man, be his merit what it will, can never raise himself; but must, like the ivy round the oak, twine himself round some man of great power and interest.

The only solid and lasting peace between a man and his wife is, doubtless, a separation.

Every man becomes, to a certain degree, what the people he generally converses with are.

In the mass of mankind, I fear, there is too great a majority of fools and knaves; who, singly from their number, must to a certain degree be respected, though they are by no means respectable.

As fathers commonly go, it is seldom a misfortune to be fatherless; and considering the general run of sons, as seldom a misfortune to be childless.

Knowledge of the world in only to be acquired in the world, and not in a closet.

A wise man will live as much within his wit as within his income.

The heart never grows better by age; I fear rather worse, always harder. A young liar will be an old one, and a young knave will only be a greater knave as he grows older.

Gratitude is a burden upon our imperfect nature, and we are but too willing to ease ourselves of it, or at least to lighten it as much as we can.

Knowledge may give weight, but accomplishments give luster, and many more people see than weigh.

In matters of religion and matrimony I never give any advice; because I will not have anybody's torments in this world or the next laid to my charge.

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.

Wit is so shining a quality that everybody admires it; most people aim at it, all people fear it, and few love it unless in themselves. A man must have a good share of wit himself to endure a great share of it in another.

The rich are always advising the poor, but the poor seldom return the compliment.

Being pretty on the inside means you don't hit your brother and you eat all your peas - that's what my grandma taught me.

To have frequent recourse to narrative betrays great want of imagination.

A weak mind is like a microscope, which magnifies trifling things, but cannot receive great ones.

Our prejudices are our mistresses; reason is at best our wife, very often heard indeed, but seldom minded.

Sex: the pleasure is momentary, the position ridiculous, and the expense damnable.

Let them show me a cottage where there are not the same vices of which they accuse the courts.

Custom has made dancing sometimes necessary for a young man; therefore mind it while you learn it, that you may learn to do it well, and not be ridiculous, though in a ridiculous act.

Vice, in its true light, is so deformed, that it shocks us at first sight; and would hardly ever seduce us, if it did not at first wear the mask of some virtue.

It is always right to detect a fraud, and to perceive a folly; but it is very often wrong to expose either. A man of business should always have his eyes open, but must often seem to have them shut.

Let your enemies be disarmed by the gentleness of your manner, but at the same time let them feel, the steadiness of your resentment.

Judgment is not upon all occasions required, but discretion always is.

Young men are apt to think themselves wise enough, as drunken men are apt to think themselves sober enough.

A novel must be exceptionally good to live as long as the average cat.

Learning is acquired by reading books, but the much more necessary learning, the knowledge of the world, is only to be acquired by reading men, and studying all the various facets of them.

Women are only children of a larger growth. A man of sense only trifles with them, plays with them, humours and flatters them, as he does with a sprightly and forward child; but he neither consults them about, nor trusts them with, serious matters.

The mere brute pleasure of reading - the sort of pleasure a cow must have in grazing.