Societal civility is the extension and expansion of individual gallantry: it’s all about—or ought to be about—balance and restraint

A compleat gentleman seeks a harmonious union of body and soul, and if his will—his soul—is strong then his body ought to be strong as well.

I acknowledge the efficacy of a kind of peacemaking, especially in the hothouse climate of so many American schools. However, strength and honor more dependably keep the peace than does palaver about psychic posture and moral equivalence.

I do not believe our gentleman Boy Scout should obsess about combat. I do think he ought to be concerned about combat readiness. A man, however hard he works for peace, must always be ready for war.

To be properly educated, one must reject contemporary pedagogical enthusiasms.

Education is the empowerment of the mind to continuously seek the true and the beautiful, regardless of ideological distractions.

The compleat gentleman’s rectitude does not prohibit him from having a sense of humor. His Stoic sense of life and his urbane education ought to give him wit.

A man is not made chivalrous by an extensive education. A college degree and advanced academic achievement are as often impediments to chivalry as they are inducements to it.

There have always been two senses of the word gentleman: the fine man of high birth and the fine man of good character.