David Brooks: In Search of Dignity
| By Mike Collins - Jul 8th, 2009 at 1:15 pm EDT |
| Also listed in: Veterans for Progress |
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Categories: Equality / Civil Rights, Civil Liberties / Privacy, Peace & Social Justice, Foreign Policy & Security, Economic Fairness & Security, Environment / Conservation, Smart Energy Policy, Public Infrastructure / Transportation, Effective & Ethical Government, Electoral Reform, Affordable Healthcare, Education, Consumer and Worker Protection, Property Rights, Separation of Powers / Federalism, Media Accountability, Research & Technology, Corporate Accountability / Workers' Rights, Crime & Penal Reform, Budget Priorities, Religion, Animal Welfare, Immigration, Reproductive Rights
"The dignity code........It also commanded its followers to be dispassionate — to distrust rashness, zealotry, fury and political enthusiasm."
I'm having trouble finding balance, even though we have been blatantly provoked by charlatans in positions of trust MC
NY Times
July 7, 2009
Op-Ed Columnist
In Search of Dignity
By DAVID BROOKS
When George Washington was a young man, he copied out a list of 110 “Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation.” Some of the rules in his list dealt with the niceties of going to a dinner party or meeting somebody on the street.
“Lean not upon anyone,” was one of the rules. “Read no letter, books or papers in company,” was another. “If any one come to speak to you while you are sitting, stand up,” was a third.
But, as the biographer Richard Brookhiser has noted, these rules, which Washington derived from a 16th-century guidebook, were not just etiquette tips. They were designed to improve inner morals by shaping the outward man. Washington took them very seriously. He worked hard to follow them. Throughout his life, he remained acutely conscious of his own rectitude.
Continued:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/07/opinion/07brooks.html?em
I'm having trouble finding balance, even though we have been blatantly provoked by charlatans in positions of trust MC
NY Times
July 7, 2009
Op-Ed Columnist
In Search of Dignity
By DAVID BROOKS
When George Washington was a young man, he copied out a list of 110 “Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation.” Some of the rules in his list dealt with the niceties of going to a dinner party or meeting somebody on the street.
“Lean not upon anyone,” was one of the rules. “Read no letter, books or papers in company,” was another. “If any one come to speak to you while you are sitting, stand up,” was a third.
But, as the biographer Richard Brookhiser has noted, these rules, which Washington derived from a 16th-century guidebook, were not just etiquette tips. They were designed to improve inner morals by shaping the outward man. Washington took them very seriously. He worked hard to follow them. Throughout his life, he remained acutely conscious of his own rectitude.
Continued:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/07/opinion/07brooks.html?em













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