John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.
Philip Dormer Stanhope
| 1 | |
| Whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well. | |
| Letter, March 10, 1746. | |
| 2 | |
| I knew once a very covetous, sordid fellow, 1 who used to say, “Take care of the pence, for the pounds will take care of themselves.” | |
| Letter, Nov. 6, 1747. | |
| 3 | |
| Sacrifice to the Graces. 2 | |
| Letter, March 9, 1748. | |
| 4 | |
| Manners must adorn knowledge, and smooth its way through the world. Like a great rough diamond, it may do very well in a closet by way of curiosity, and also for its intrinsic value. | |
| Letter, July 1, 1748. | |
| 5 | |
| Style is the dress of thoughts. | |
| Letter, Nov. 24, 1749. | |
| 6 | |
| Despatch is the soul of business. | |
| Letter, Feb. 5, 1750. | |
| 7 | |
| Chapter of accidents. 3 | |
| Letter, Feb. 16, 1753. | |
| 8 | |
| I assisted at the birth of that most significant word “flirtation,” which dropped from the most beautiful mouth in the world. | |
| The World. No. 101. | |
| 9 | |
| Unlike my subject now shall be my song; It shall be witty, and it sha’n’t be long. | |
| Impromptu Lines. | |
| 10 | |
| The dews of the evening most carefully shun,— Those tears of the sky for the loss of the sun. | |
| Advice to a Lady in Autumn. | |
| 11 | |
| The nation looked upon him as a deserter, and he shrunk into insignificancy and an earldom. | |
| Character of Pulteney. | |
| 12 | |
| He adorned whatever subject he either spoke or wrote upon, by the most splendid eloquence. 4 | |
| Character of Bolingbroke. |
| Note 1. W. Lowndes, Secretary of the Treasury in the reigns of King William, Queen Anne, and King George the Third. [back] |
| Note 2. Plato was continually saying to Xenocrates, “Sacrifice to the Graces.”—Diogenes Laertius: Xenocrates, book iv. sect. 2. Let us sacrifice to the Muses.—Plutarch: The Banquet of the Seven Wise Men. (A saying of Solon.) [back] |
| Note 3. Chapter of accidents.—Edmund Burke: Notes for Speeches (edition 1852), vol. ii. p. 426. John Wilkes said that “the Chapter of Accidents is the longest chapter in the book.”—Robert Southey: The Doctor, chap. cxviii. [back] |
| Note 4. Who left scarcely any style of writing untouched, And touched nothing that he did not adorn. Samuel Johnson: Epitaph on Goldsmith. Il embellit tout ce qu’il touche (He adorned whatever he touched).—Fénelon: Lettre sur les Occupations de l’ Académie Française, sect. iv. [back] |