A Gentleman

A Gentleman

In offering this little book to that public for which it is intendeda public made up of young men from fifteen to twenty years of agethe author fears that he may seem presumptuous. He intends to accentuate what most of them already know, not to teach them any new thing. And if he appear to touch too much upon the trifles of life, it is because experience shows that it is the small things of our daily intercourse with our fellow-beings which make the difference between success and failure. He gratefully acknowledges his obligation to the Reverend editor of the Ave Maria for permission to use in the last part of this volume several of the Chats with Good Listeners. I have been asked to refresh your memory and to recall to your mind the necessity of certain little rules which are often forgotten in the recurrent interest of daily life, but which, nevertheless, are extremely important parts of education. There are rules made by society to avoid friction, to preserve harmony, and perhaps to accentuate the immense gulf that lies between the savage and the civilized man. But, trifling as they seem, you will be handicapped in your career in life if you do not know them. Good manners are good manners everywhere in civilization; etiquette is not the same everywhere. The best manners come from 10the heart; the best etiquette comes from the head. But the practice of one and the knowledge of the other help to form that combination which the world names a gentleman, and which is described by the adjective well-bred. For instance, if a man laughs at a mistake made by another in the hearing of that other, he commits a solecism in good mannershe is thoughtless and he appears heartless; but if he wears gloves at the dinner-table and persists in keeping them on his hands while he eats, he merely commits a breach of etiquette. Society, which makes the rules that govern it, will visit the latter offence with more severity than the former. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 62712
Author: Egan, Maurice Francis
Release Date: Jul 20, 2020
Format: eBook
Language: English