Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
A true gentleman is defined by integrity, loyalty, and faithfulness to others and God.
In plain terms
A good man keeps his word and treats people with honor.
What can you take from it?
Honor comes from character, not status.

Where it applies

  • leadership
  • ethics
  • personal conduct

Putting it to work

  • keep your word
  • act with honor

Questions to consider

  • What defines honor for you?
  • Are you faithful to your word?

Another view

Modern views may not require faith in God to be a gentleman.

More from Ralph Waldo Emerson

  1. When you strike at a King, you must kill him.

    Permalink to quote #304
  2. When it is darkest, men see the stars.

    Permalink to quote #306
  3. What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

    Permalink to quote #303

Related quotes

  1. Upon the whole, I have always considered him, both in his lifetime and since his death, as approaching as nearly to the idea of a perfectly wise and virtuous m…

    Adam SmithAdam Smith quote #1
  2. La vertu s'avilit a se justifier.

    VoltaireVoltaire quote #1
  3. That soul that can Be honest is the only perfect man.

    John FletcherJohn Fletcher quote #3