Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/02/14/1750-advice-on-how-to-attain-success-from-the-4th-earl-of-chesterfield.html
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- Inherit an earldom.
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Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportioned thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch’d, unfledged comrade.
Beware of entrance to a quarrel, but being in,
Bear’t that the opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man’s censure, but reserve thy judgment.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express’d in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man,
And they in France of the best rank and station
Are of a most select and generous chief in that.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all: to thine ownself be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
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The last act doesn’t fit as well with the theme of the film, so I usually skip it. (Kubrick, the novel is called The luck of Barrry Lyndon. That should have been a big clue.)
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He wrote many more letters to his son, btw, this is just an excerpt.
A very short excerpt.
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“Let blockheads read what blockheads wrote.”
Good advice for dealing with social media.
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Nowadays it’s Bryce Dallas Howard offering advice on “How to Succeed in Hollywood” that somehow doesn’t mention the tip: have father who is a big time director and a father, uncle and grandfather who are/were all actors.
What struck me was this earl eliminating laughter from his life. Sounds sub-optimal.
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As a dull antiquarian by profession, I take offense to the quote in its original context, though…
While you are in France, I could wish that the hours you allot for historical amusement should be entirely devoted to the history of France. One always reads history to most advantage in that country to which it is relative; not only books, but persons being ever at hand to solve doubts and clear up difficulties. I do by no means advise you to throw away your time in ransacking, like a dull antiquarian, the minute and unimportant parts of remote and fabulous times. Let blockheads read what blockheads wrote. And a general notion of the history of France, from the conquest of that country by the Franks, to the reign of Louis the Eleventh, is sufficient for use, consequently sufficient for you.
(He’s not actually wrong. I’d much rather that the general public had a good grounding in the basics of history than detailed knowledge of a few things)
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• Invent a sofa.
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Bryce Dallas Howard still has nothing on Donald Trump Jr. in that regard.
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If I’ve done it right:
from The National Archives Currency converter: 1270–2017
1 shilling in 1750 would have been worth approximately £5.83 in 2017
and from the Bank of England inflation calculator
£6 in 2017 is(was) worth £7.63 in Jan 2024
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Yeah, came here to say: be the first born son of the 3rd Earl of Chesterfield, but you were quicker and pithier!
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“…I should buy a boat”
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Or a flying velocipede…
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So that’s about the price of a pint.
(Sadly not that much of a joke.)
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I think that’s adjusted for inflation, but not actual buying power.
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Anyway, a crown was five shillings. So altering the perception from “he gave me a couple of shillings” to “he gave me a whole crown” for the low, low price of twelve pence is good personal PR.
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