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The Compleat Gentleman: The Modern Man's Guide to Chivalry QUOTES

The Compleat Gentleman: The Modern Man's Guide to Chivalry QUOTES

1 " The cherished assumption in teaching has always been that truth is what matters, and until the last decade no one would have thought the truth should be denied because some consider it offensive or ‘triggering. "

― , The Compleat Gentleman: The Modern Man's Guide to Chivalry

2 " The compleat gentleman has always been akin to the warrior, but it does not follow that he has always been a soldier. When duty calls, he will be a fighter, but his martial skill may be practiced with his wits rather than his fists. "

― , The Compleat Gentleman: The Modern Man's Guide to Chivalry

3 " Perfection is not given to any man. But an aspiration to perfection—to the highest possible standards in every aspect of life—is possible. "

― , The Compleat Gentleman: The Modern Man's Guide to Chivalry

4 " I do not feel superior to nineteenth-century gentlemen or twelfth-century knights "

― , The Compleat Gentleman: The Modern Man's Guide to Chivalry

5 " a gentleman today—however we may characterize him—may find his environment less congenial to his temperament. "

― , The Compleat Gentleman: The Modern Man's Guide to Chivalry

6 " Men and women don’t have to be exactly equal, but a gentleman does have to allow a woman to be what she wants to be. "

― , The Compleat Gentleman: The Modern Man's Guide to Chivalry

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

― , The Compleat Gentleman: The Modern Man's Guide to Chivalry

8 " The egalitarianism that is the most offensive is the notion, whether embodied in opinion or law, that every way of behaving is as good as any other and that the man who stands apart by reason of his dignity, restraint, and discernment is somehow an Enemy of the People "

― , The Compleat Gentleman: The Modern Man's Guide to Chivalry

9 " Chivalry was more an ambition than an accomplishment, but—and this is the important thing—it was the common ambition of increasing numbers of men, and it had the effect of elevating and concretizing their civil righteousness. Religion also did this. "

― , The Compleat Gentleman: The Modern Man's Guide to Chivalry

10 " It was not enough for knights simply to love and fight well; they needed to sacrifice everything for the highest ideals, such as a Grail quest. "

― , The Compleat Gentleman: The Modern Man's Guide to Chivalry

11 " I propose three models—archetypes if you like—that comprise the dimensions of a chivalrous gentleman’s character: the warrior, the lover, and the monk. "

― , The Compleat Gentleman: The Modern Man's Guide to Chivalry

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

― , The Compleat Gentleman: The Modern Man's Guide to Chivalry

13 " A gentleman is contemplative in that he never ceases to refine his sense of reality. "

― , The Compleat Gentleman: The Modern Man's Guide to Chivalry

14 " 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. "

― , The Compleat Gentleman: The Modern Man's Guide to Chivalry

15 " A gentleman, I hope it will become clear, is not simply a man who stands apart. He is a man who stands up for others—sometimes even for his enemies—often when those others have no clue that he is there for them. "

― , The Compleat Gentleman: The Modern Man's Guide to Chivalry

16 " Still, taking the good with the bad, chivalry, like Christianity, had a healthy effect upon Western man. "

― , The Compleat Gentleman: The Modern Man's Guide to Chivalry

17 " Chivalry is first and foremost the worldview of fighting men. "

― , The Compleat Gentleman: The Modern Man's Guide to Chivalry

18 " It is remarkable that chivalry, no matter how actual or merely aspirational it was in its own day, appeared when it did—that it appeared at all! "

― , The Compleat Gentleman: The Modern Man's Guide to Chivalry

19 " Chivalry combined military, religious, and social concepts into a unified way of life. "

― , The Compleat Gentleman: The Modern Man's Guide to Chivalry

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

― , The Compleat Gentleman: The Modern Man's Guide to Chivalry