"We must not draw general conclusions from certain particular principles, though, in the main, true ones. We must not suppose that, because a man is a rational animal, he will therefore always act rationally; or, because he has such or such a predominant passion, that he will act invariably and consequentially in the pursuit of it. No. We are complicated machines: and though we have one main-spring, that gives motion to the whole, we have an infinity of little wheels, which, in their turns, retard, precipitate, and sometimes stop that motion."
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Politicians from EnglandFreemasonsNon-fiction authors from EnglandPeople from LondonBritish Ambassadors to the Netherlands
Original Language: English
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19 December 1749
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philip_Stanhope%2C_4th_Earl_of_Chesterfield
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Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield (22 September 1694 – 24 March 1773) was a British statesman and man of letters.
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