Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield Quotes
Abject flattery and indiscriminate assentation degrade, as much as indiscriminate contradiction and noisy debate disgust. But a modest assertion of one’s own opinion, and a complaisant acquiescence in other people’s, preserve dignity.
Quotes to Explore
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I think we Americans tend to put too high a price on unanimity, as if there were something dangerous and illegitimate about honest differences of opinion honestly expressed by honest men.
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Well, we like to let down our hair and pep it up at the dances, but we keep it slower when we broadcast. We have to please everybody, and that softer music appeals to the larger amount of people. It's like eating too much cake. You have to have your steak too.
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My concept of government's role in people's lives is that it is limited but legitimate, and essential when people have nowhere else to turn.
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If we pulled out of Iraq tomorrow, Islamic jihadism is on the rise. And they continue, as we see in Lebanon, to seek to destroy the State of Israel and seek to drive America back and bring us to our knees. We must stand tall and straight.
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Desire is the very essence of man.
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So many songs are just a wink to the audience, but people take them seriously. 'My Humps?' C'mon!
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Putting on my legs is like putting on my shoes. I understand that's how some people might think differently, but I hope that in London, their perceptions open up.
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I think that you can love people without it being the great love.
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What if you could radically alter the way stories get told? What if the way people wanted to consume content actually changed what you could make?
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You have to understand that while I pre-plot the meta story of a given book, I often have no idea of what will happen on the next page, let alone the next chapter. That's what makes it fun for me; I write the books the same way many people read them.
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I'm not confident around compliments or being celebrated, and I'm not comfortable with the thought of envy, which some people thrive on.
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I focus on projects I am passionate about and only work with people I respect. Without these supportive teams, partners and clients, I could never work on so many things. I am fortunate that they see the value in the multiplicity of my work and how it all comes together in a kind of virtuous cycle.
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Some musical directors have more chutzpah. They pick up the phone and talk people into giving. I prefer to call and say 'thank you' after the money has been contributed.
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A show hosted by a black had never been accepted, so the first time that knob's turned on, people are judging against all they have ever been taught. I may have been the first black in the house.
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Sometimes it is claimed by those who argue that race is just a social construct that the human genome project shows that because people share roughly 99% of their genes in common, that there are no races. This is silly.
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I had no luck when I started out as a model. I keep telling people that it's the only career in the world that you can't choose for yourself - you have to be chosen.
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I've always ignored the labels people put on things.
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And then in 1956 or 1957 my family went over to Europe and I moved over with them, and immediately people in Europe thought my perspective on that issue was 100% correct.
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People too smart to get involved in politics are doomed to live in societies run by people who aren't.
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Some said it couldn't be done. Many of my own people would prefer it if we were taking 10 or 15 years to complete the transformation.
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The Germans always had difficulties with their identity. Either it was too much and too loud, or it was hidden and too subservient. The French always had a healthy self-confidence. When they spoke of a 'grande nation' it was not dangerous. De Gaulle could say on Martinique: 'Behind me is the ocean. In front of me is France'.
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Man, I would have loved to have been fully cognisant of the power of Janis Joplin. I would have loved to have been part of the revolution.
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..we will continue to despise people until we have recognized, loved, and accepted what is despicable in ourselves. So that, then we go down, what is it that is despicable in ourselves? And there are some elements despicable in ourselves, which we don't want to look at, but which are part of our natures, that we are mortal.
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Abject flattery and indiscriminate assentation degrade, as much as indiscriminate contradiction and noisy debate disgust. But a modest assertion of one’s own opinion, and a complaisant acquiescence in other people’s, preserve dignity.
