The Gentleman's Code

Posted By Blackfive

At PJ Country, I found this code that should get more exposure:

"The True Gentleman is the man whose conduct proceeds from good will and an acute sense of propriety, and whose self-control is equal to all emergencies; who does not make the poor man conscious of his poverty, the obscure man of his obscurity, or any man of his inferiority or deformity; who is himself humbled if necessity compels him to humble another; who does not flatter wealth, cringe before power, or boast of his own possessions or achievements; who speaks with frankness but always with sincerity and sympathy; whose deed follows his word; who thinks of the rights and feelings of others, rather than his own; and who appears well in any company, a man with whom honor is sacred and virtue safe."

John Walter Wayland (Virginia 1899)

Grim's thoughts on the subject are here.

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[JD]

This is the creed of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity. All new members are required to learn it. You can read about it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigma_Alpha_Epsilon

[LtCol P]

The truest of true gentlemen-- in every sense of the word-- were George Washington and Robert E. Lee, especially Lee whose 200th birthday just passed.

http://op-for.com/2007/01/lee_jackson_and_the_battle_of.html

[Mr. Wolf]

These days, I feel far more comfortable being called a 'Warrior'. To me, more and more a 'gentleman' is more akin to being called 'pussy'...

Wolf

[Sig]

"Gentleman" is a term reserved for ossifers and civilians and other unsavory types.

SPC Sig

[Tincan Sailor]

Code of the West
(from "Cowboy Ethics: What Wall Street Can Learn from the Code of the West" by James P. Owen)

Live each day with courage.

Take pride in your work.

Always finish what you start.

Do what has to be done.

Be tough, but fair.

When you make a promise, keep it.

Ride for the brand.

Talk less and say more.

Remember that some things aren't for sale.

Know where to draw the line.

[Some Soldier's Mom]

yup. we live in cowboy country. and you can tell the real cowboys every time, tincan. they really do have and live that code. the real ones, anyway. these should be rules for politicians... even the ones that wear skirts (maybe especially them).

[bthun]

George and Robert E. in the same sentence caused me to pop tall and salute.

Regarding gentlemen being wussies, as Blackfive attributed to a Marine friend of his in Grim's earlier post, "Always be courteous. Always be a Gentleman. Always be ready to kill everyone in the room."

Now that code of conduct this ole southern boy can take to heart.

Kindest regards.

[Tincan Sailor]

To the relatively small number of working cowboys still out there, knowing you are a cowboy, a real working cowboy, is the highest honor there is. You know you are special. You know you do a highly specialized job that no one else is skilled or dedicated enough to accomplish. To the working cowboy, the job has never, ever, been about the money. It is one of the lowest-paying skilled jobs in America. Rather, it is about pride of accomplishment, pride of ability, pride of being among the elite. It is also about living and working outdoors. It is about the one thing Americans have always prized above all else. That is freedom.

[Tincan Sailor]

A very good friend of mine who is a 100% hard
core Cowboy told this to his son and to me it
says it all! Dad once told me, "I can't imagine anything more terrible than to be lying there on your death bed thinking back over your life and suddenly realizing that all the high points had taken place during your two-week annual vacations."By the way he still rides fence and
feeds cattle when its 20 below and he's around
67 years old...

[Ymarsakar]

These days, I feel far more comfortable being called a 'Warrior'. To me, more and more a 'gentleman' is more akin to being called 'pussy'...

The meaning differs in the South as opposed to elsewhere. Grim's part of the Southern tradition, so his view is askewed compared to the views of other regions in America.

We hear a lot about gentleman in terms of it being opposite that of rough men and cow boys, because gentlemen usually refered to someone of a more refined mien in the East (not the utter east). Back in the Wild West days, the East was quite civilized, being on the coast and being New England that is. But that is different from the Southern gentlemen who used to engage in the Code Duello. So there are different meanings because of who they were used to describe. Sort of like the difference when you call Reagan a liberal and when you call Carter a liberal.

Now that code of conduct this ole southern boy can take to heart.

Anybody who is a believer in the 2nd Ammendment would find true faith with that.

[vincenzo4@hotmail.com]

Thank you for this quote. Would I be remiss and violative of his precepts to say and admit to you all I needed to read this today? I am increasingly alone and marginalized in a culture that values and foments none of what I am, what I have become; what I cherish deeply and what I selfishly give of myself. That quote has profoundly affected me today, and might I also say, absolved me of some pretty negative, alienated external stimuli.

Without saying it, I danced around specifics, but someone out there knows precisely what I am and where I am at the moment.

[edog81]

This is my first visit to your blog. I am not a blogger. The opportunity arose while sifting through news at Drudgereport.com.

If I may, I would like to praise your efforts here and citizen-salute all of our U. S. warriors, everywhere, but especially those in harm's way. My wife and I and our kids include you in ours Christian prayers every day.

This thread on The True Gentleman caught my attention because I was indoctrinated with it at college 25 years ago. It follows the Bible in directing my activities in daily life. While it may carry different meaning for different folks (much like the Holy Bible), I would like to point out what I feel are the defining points and apply them to our crisis in America today.

He is a man "whose deed follows his word" and with whom "honor is sacred and virtue safe." [There isn't much of this in our political arena, is there? It is all too sad that Flip-flops and corruption abound.]

While some of the other points of the poem may appear to pussify the true gentleman, I beg to differ in the opinion.

While "thinking of the rights and feelings of others rather than his own" may sound pacifist, it allows him to "appear well in any company" and work from within to convince others of the need to be strong and not "cringe before power."

My failings in life are many. My kids will benefit from the things I have learned in retrospect, but much the more, they are learning from your bravery and your will to lay down your life for another in order to preserve the American way of life.

One of the kids from our small, rural Texas church is a medic in Bagdhad and another is in Navy Seal training. My 13 year old son is expressing interest in a military career rather than ranching. My youngest son (age 7) already knows the difference between victory and defeat.

May God bless your efforts to eradicate this enemy from the face of the Earth. May God bless your families while awaiting your safe return home.

[bthun]

"I am increasingly alone and marginalized in a culture that values and foments none of what I am, what I have become; what I cherish deeply and what I selfishly give of myself."

Vincenze, know that you are not alone nor are you marginalized. You know your worth and no one can take that away from you!

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

Theodore Roosevelt aka Theodore Rex

Stay strong, stay safe.

[Ymarsakar]

Hear, hear, bt.

"'He either fears his fate too much,
Or his desert is small,
Who fears to put it to the touch,
And win or lose it all.'

A toast to you and all.

[alexa kim]

Comment below written by: vincenzo4@hotmail.com
Thank you for this quote. Would I be remiss and violative of his precepts to say and admit to you all I needed to read this today? I am increasingly alone and marginalized in a culture that values and foments none of what I am, what I have become; what I cherish deeply and what I selfishly give of myself. ....

Vincenzo, first let me say that I enjoy your comments and often find myself in total agreement with you, admiring how you have put it. I have been derelict in saying so, please let me correct that here.

I can relate to much of what you're feeling, though from a different set of circumstances. If I say that you are not alone, not as long as I live, for we are kindred, would it offer you some solace? I very highly value men such you, for I have made it my avocation to learn everything I can about My Soldiers (a term I use with deep respect, to include everyone who serves in the military, especially in-country). To especially learn to be grateful and humbled by their service, by their quality of humanity, nobility and citizenship.

I don't know if you are in, or were, in the military or served in A'stan or Iraq. But don't let that imply that if not, I'll discount --or marginalize-- you. There are gentlemen (I also believe in the definitions and examples posted by Tincan Sailor and bthun) who rival the quality of My Soldiers though not in the military. They serve America by supporting, defending, watching Our Soldiers' backs from here in the Homeland. Doing so often can make the difference between Our Soldiers getting the funding and backing from Congress or not. Any gentleman, or the female equivalent, whom I call a lady, who stands up proudly, without hesitation, to back the mission and Our Troops, serves honorably.

So please receive my voice in encouragement that not in my eyes are you alone, and you are more important than too many of the people walking on our sidewalks right now. Why? Because you Get It, you are Paying Attention, you Care About Your Country, you Exercize Your First Amendment Right With Respect and Responsibility For The Right.

I agree that the condition of our society that is "reported" by the MSM, the values that the MSM displays, are nothing near the quality of those that The Greatest Generation lived by. I share your dismay over this sad state of affairs. I too am more and more alarmed by the shallowness and indifference to facts demonstrated by our generation's children, by their lack of shame, disdain for civility. We have failed to do for them what our grandparents and parents did for us. We said we wouldn't do what our parents did to us, and we didn't... too well.

You're not alone, ever, as long as I comment here, as long as I'm alive.