Famous Quotes | Abject flattery and...

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. - Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield
Attribution: Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773), British statesman, man of letters. letter, Aug. 10, 1749, Letters Written by the Late Right Honourable Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl, Earl of Chesterfield, to his Son, Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl, Esq, 5th ed., vol. II, p. 196, London (1774). Assentation: ready assent, especially when insincere or obsequious; agreement merely for the sake of pleasing.

Categories: Argument, Flattery, Man Of Letters, Opinions, Statesman

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