Letters to His Son: On the Fine Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman, Volume 2

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Page 376 - The dawn is overcast, the morning lowers, And heavily in clouds brings on the day, The great, th
Page 401 - You should not only have attention to everything, but a quickness of attention, so as to observe, at once, all the people in the room, their motions, their looks, and their words, and yet without staring at them, and seeming to be an observer. This quick and unobserved observation is of infinite advantage in life, and is to be acquired with care ; and, on the contrary, what is called absence, which is...
Page 131 - Besides, not having the honour to be acquainted with any of the parties in his Poem, except the Man and the Woman, the characters and speeches of a dozen or two of Angels, and of as many Devils, are as much above my reach as my entertainment. Keep this secret for me : for if it should be known, I should be abused by every tasteless Pedant, and every solid Divine in England.
Page 112 - Want as much more to turn it to its use; For wit and judgment often are at strife, Though meant each other's aid, like man and wife.
Page 428 - ... conform; and then they should be able to do it well. And, though I would not have you a dancer, yet, when you do dance, I would have you dance well, as I would have you do everything you do, well. There is no one thing so trifling, but which (if it is to be done at all) ought to be done well. And I have often told you, that I wished you even played at pitch, and cricket, better than any boy at Westminster. For instance; dress is a very foolish thing; and yet it is a very foolish thing for a man...
Page 302 - For my part, I never saw a froward child mended by whipping : and I would not have the mother country become a stepmother.
Page 400 - However trifling a genteel manner may sound, it is of very great consequence towards pleasing in private life, especially the women, which one time or other you will think worth pleasing...
Page 169 - Parliament; the Parliament never will forgive them. The Army must, without doubt, take, in their own minds at least, different parts in all these disputes, which, upon occasion, would break out. Armies, though always the supporters and tools of absolute power for the time being, are always the destroyers of it too ; by frequently changing the hands in which they think proper to lodge it.
Page 397 - Know then, that as learning, honor, and virtue are absolutely necessary to gain you the esteem and admiration of mankind, politeness and good breeding are equally necessary to make you welcome and agreeable in conversation and common life. Great talents, such as honor, virtue, learning, and parts, are above the generality of the world ; who neither possess them themselves, nor judge of them rightly in others : but all people are judges of the lesser talents, such as civility, affability, and an obliging,...
Page 206 - Do not stare at the seeming paradox ; for it is an undoubted truth, that the less one has to do, the less time one finds to do it in. One yawns, one procrastinates, one can do it when one will, and therefore one seldom does it at all ; whereas those who have a great deal of business, must (to use a vulgar expression) buckle to it; and then they always find time enough to do it in.

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