Advice and counsel mean an opinion or a judgement given by one person to another urging him either to do something or not to do it. Advice , the more general term, may be given on serious matter or relatively trivial ones, but counsel suggests solemn advice given in an official or authoritative capacity about a matter of some importance, at least to the person seeking it: to give advice to one’s son on the choice of a career; a woman seeking advice on hair styling; a young resident who profited from the counsel of an experienced surgeon. Advice , unless qualified by an adjective suggesting otherwise, often implies that the adviser has a direct and more or less personal interest in the person advised ; the subject of advice is thus often personal in nature. Counsel , on the other hand, suggests a detached, impersonal view on the part of the person giving it; and the subject of counsel is often of a business nature.

Recommendation , in this sense, suggests advice given on the basis of one’s own experience, and expresses a stronger, more positive endorsement of a particular course than advice . One’s advice may be to choose the lesser of two evils; a recommendation implies that one course is distinctly favourable and ought to be purused on its own merits: to read a new book on the recommendation of a friend.