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From The Humorous Poetry of the English Language from Chaucer to Saxe, with Notes, Explanatory and Biographical, by James Parton; Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1884; p. 672.
CHESTERFIELD, LORD — Born in 1694; died 1773. Courtier, statesman, and man of the world; famous for many things, but known to literature chiefly by his “Letters to his Son,” which have formed three generations of “gentlemen,” and still exert great influences. Chesterfield was a noted wit in his day, but most of his good things have been lost. See p. 546.
Elf·Note
For more of his “good things” on this site, besides the epigram on p. 546, see Jest CLXII, and Jest CLXVI, and Jest CCXCIII, and Jest MCCXCVI from Joe Miller’s Jest Book, by Mark Lemon.
Another anecdote can be found HERE from The Repository of Wit and Humor, selected and arranged by M. Lafayette Byrn, M.D..
His “Letters to his Son,” include some very subtle humor/sarcasm, see Lying, and Ear-Tickling.
Not only that — Chesterfield is the author of the famous quote “Whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well.” This formed Question 501, in Quizzism and Its Key: Quirks and Quibbles from Queer Quarters, by Albert P. Southwick.
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