下面的这段文字是疯狂宅男拜读完切斯特菲尔德写给儿子菲利普．斯担赫普的书信，从中摘录下来的。从这段描写女人对于外表的感观文字，我不禁对这个老男人丰富的人生阅历、深厚的文字功底和敏锐的洞察力佩服得五体投地。

Women have, in general, but one object, which is their beauty; upon which scarce any flattery is too gross for them to follow. Nature has hardly formed ?a woman ugly enough to be insensible to flattery upon her person; if her face ?is so shocking that she must, in some degree, be conscious of it, her face is so shocking that she must, in some degree, be conscious of it, her figure and air, she trusts, make ample amends for it. If they are both bad, she comforts herself that she has graces, a certain manner, a je ne sais ?quoi till more engaging than beauty. This truth is evident from the studied and elaborate dress of the ugloest woman jin the world. An undoubted, uncontested, conscious?beauty is of all women, the least sensible of flattery upon that head; she knows it is her due, and is therefore obliged to nobody for giving it her. She may possibly not doubt of herself, yet she suspects that men may distrust. ?Do not mistske me, and think that I mean to recommend to you abject and criminal flattery: no; flatter nobody's vices or crimes: on the contrary, abhor and discourage them. But there is no living in the world without a complaisant indulgence for people's weaknesses, and innocent, though ridiculous vanities. If a man has a mind to be thought woser, and a woman handsomer, ?than they reallu are, their error is acomfortble on to themselves, and ?an innocent one with regard to other people; and I would rather make them my friends by indulging them in it, than my wnemies by endeavoring (and that to no purpose) to undeceive them.

至于女人们，她们大体而言只有一个话题，那就是他们的美貌；在这方面，再露骨的谄媚之辞在她们听来也不为过。大自然从来没有造就过这样一个女人：她是如此丑陋，以致对别人对其外貌的恭维话都无动于衷。假如她们的容貌非常难看，连她自己都在一定程度上意识到了这一点，那么她便会相信，自己的身材和气质定然充分地弥补了这一缺陷。假如她的身材十分糟糕，她则会认为自己的容貌之美足以抵消身材之差。假如她的容貌和身材都不好，她就会相信自己具有魅力，具有某种难以描述的、比美貌还要迷人的风度。女人对外表的关注是一个显而易见的事实－－世上最丑的女人往往身着华丽考究的礼服，就充分地表明了这一点。在女人当中，那些的确具有绝世之姿容并深知自己貌美的女子，是对外表方面的恭维话最不敏感的；她知道这些赞美之辞是她理所应当享有的，因而不会对别人的奉承怀有任何的感激之情。但是如果人们赞美她聪明机智，她必然大为得意，因为尽管她自己或许对此并不怀疑，她却担心男人们不相信她具有这些优点。