https://www.gutenberg.org/files/39293/39293-h/39293-h.htmEvery individual, both male and female, should attempt to live their lives by the maxims in this book.
Aside from those which are clearly outdated, such as those on the specifics of dress and hygiene, it is a beautiful primer on how to live with other persons as one's best self.
Always be polite and kind, never say or do anything which might injure another person without deepest necessity, always sacrifice your own comfort and preference for that of others, and always, always try to make the lives of those around you better.
Where the book is most outdated (having been published in the 1860s) is with regards to gender relations. This is no problem at all for readers possessed of a little understanding. On the one hand, the great respect which the author demands be shown to women would at times be very officious and "cringe" in this day an age, but you will be able to recognize these points on your own. But on the other hand, the respect which the author says is due to women should, in all likelihood, be extended to all others, male or female, whom you encounter.
To live by polite and caring acts is an excellent first step to cultivating a caring, and tranquil inner life. When you first find yourself choosing to put on a happy face in public, because you wouldn't dream of infringing upon other's happiness with your worries, you will find your powers of endurance against all your problems greatly increased.
A gentleman who is treated rudely may disdain contact with the offender, and may assert the rights of his own dignity. But he will never sink so low as to return that rudeness in kind, or to consider the aggressor as below the level of humankind. For he knows not that man's trials, and even though a criminal may need to be imprisoned to prevent further harm, the gentleman will earnestly hope for the internee's reform and improvement.
That's what I think of. Some of your posts made me ponder it.
