5 Tips for Making a Good Impression, from 1774

I love reading lists of happiness tips from days of yore — for example, Sydney Smith’s nineteen tips for cheering yourself up, from two hundred years ago.

Lord Chesterfield, a British statesman and man of letters, was preoccupied with worldly success. In his Letters, he bombards his son with advice about how to succeed in society.

Here’s an assortment of his advice:

1. “The very same thing may become either pleasing or offensive, by the manner of saying or doing it.”

2. “Even where you are sure, seem rather doubtful; represent, but do not pronounce, and if you would convince others, seem open to conviction yourself.”

3. “You will easily discover every man’s prevailing vanity, by observing his favourite topic of conversation; for every man talks most of what he has most a mind to be thought to excel in.”

4. “Dress is a very foolish thing, and yet it is a very foolish thing for a man not to be well dressed.”

5. “Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well.”

I have to disagree with Chesterfield on #5. As part of my resolution to “Enjoy the fun of failure,” I’ve taken up the motto, “Anything worth doing is worth doing badly.”

Do you agree or disagree with his advice?

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(Photo: Vee-vee, Flick)