Whoever is open, loyal, true; of humane and affable demeanour; honourable himself, and in his judgement of others; faithful to his word as to law, and faithful alike to God and man....such a man is a true gentleman.
Interpretation
A true gentleman embodies integrity, loyalty, and kindness in all aspects of life.
Ralph Waldo Emerson defines a true gentleman as someone who possesses a genuine and affable nature, acts honorably, and is faithful to both his commitments and moral principles. This quote emphasizes the importance of character and integrity in defining an individual’s worth beyond social status or outward appearances.
In practice
A speaker at a personal development seminar might use this quote to inspire attendees to cultivate their character.
It is plain that there is no separate essence called courage, no cup or cell in the brain, no vessel in the heart containing drops or atoms that make or give this virtue; but it is the right or healthy state of every man, when he is free to do that which is constitutional to him to do.
Few people have any next, they live from hand to mouth without a plan, and are always at the end of their line.
Men cease to interest us when we find their limitations
Tis the good reader that makes the good book; a good head cannot read amiss: in every book he finds passages which seem confidences or asides hidden from all else and unmistakeably meant for his ear.
The world belongs to the energetic.
Hast thou named all the birds without a gun?
There is in the universe neither center nor circumference.
Freedom is an indivisible word. If we want to enjoy it, and fight for it, we must be prepared to extend it to everyone, whether they are rich or poor, whether they agree with us or not, no matter what their race or the color of their skin.
God is far more willing to save sinners than sinners are to be saved.
The clear problem of the outlawing of insult is that too many things can be interpreted as such. Criticism, ridicule, sarcasm, merely stating an alternative point of view to the orthodoxy, can be interpreted as insult.
One is a member of a country, a profession, a civilization, a religion. One is not just a man.
Here I and sorrows sit; Here is my throne, bid kings come bow to it.
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