If you want to gain any man's good opinion, take particular care how you behave the first time you are in company with him; the light you appear in at first, to one who is neither inclinable to think well nor ill of you, will strongly prejudice him either for or against you.

If any one trusted your body to the first man he met, you would be indignant, but yet you trust your mind to the chance comer, and allow it to be disturbed and confounded if he revile you; are you not ashamed to do so?

In your Clothes avoid too much Gaudy ; do not value your self upon an Imbroidered Gown ; and remember, that a reasonable Word, or an obliging Look, will gain you more respect, than all your fine Trappings.

Do not hover always on the surface of things, nor take up suddenly with mere appearances; but penetrate into the depth of matters, as far as your time and circumstances allow, especially in those things which relate to your own profession. Do not indulge yourselves to judge of things by the first glimpse, or a short and superficial view of them; for this will fill the mind with errors and prejudices, and give it a wrong turn and ill habit of thinking, and make much work for retraction.

Ah! what caution must men use With those who look not at the deed alone, But spy into the thoughts with subtle skill!

My own advice is that ladies should dress the way they want to be addressed. If a man sees you responsibly, he treats you responsibly and vice versa.

A woman's guess is much more accurate than a man's certainty.

People will observe you to see
How well you have observed.
The man who only observes himself however never gains
Knowledge of men. He is too anxious
To hide himself from himself. And nobody is
Cleverer than he himself is.

Thou shouldst not become presumptuous through great connections and race; for in the end thy trust is on thine own deeds.(p. 60)

Lest men suspect your tale untrue,
Keep probability in view.

It is happy for you that you possess the talent of flattering with delicacy. May I ask whether these pleasing attentions proceed from the impulse of the moment, or are they the result of previous study?

Une femme d'esprit m'a dit un jour un mot qui pourrait bien être le secret de son sexe: c'est que toute femme, en prenant un amant, tient plus de compte de la manière dont les autres femmes voient cet homme, que de la manière dont elle le voit elle-même.

2320. Trust not an Enemy, because thou hast done him good Offices: for Men are naturally more prone to revenge Injuries, than to requite Kindnesses.

Do not trust all men, but trust men of worth; the former course is silly, the latter a mark of prudence.

Before hastening to secure a possible reward of five taels by dragging an unobservant person away from a falling building, examine well his features lest you find, when too late, that it is one to whom you are indebted for double that amount.