[00:00.53]Passage 63. The Definition of a Gentleman
[00:06.23]Hence it is, that it is almost a definition of a gentleman,
[00:13.44]to say he is one who never inflicts pain.
[00:16.84]This description is both refined and, as far as it goes, accurate.
[00:22.86]He is mainly occupied in merely removing the obstacles
[00:26.90]which hinder the free and unembarrassed action of those about him;
[00:30.84]and he concurs with their movements rather than takes the initiative himself.
[00:36.64]His benefits may be considered as parallel to what are called comforts or conveniences
[00:43.53]in arrangements of a personal nature:
[00:46.15]like an easy chair or a good fire, which do their part in dispelling cold and fatigue,
[00:52.94]though nature provides both means of rest and animal heat without them.
[00:57.54]He is never mean or little in his disputes, never takes unfair advantage,
[01:05.08]never mistakes personalities or sharp sayings for arguments or insinuates evil
[01:11.76]which he dare not say out.
[01:13.95]From a long-sighted prudence, he observes the maxim of the ancient sage,
[01:20.29]that we should ever conduct ourselves towards our enemy as if he were one day to be our friend.
[01:27.51]He has too much good sense to be affronted at insults,
[01:32.44]he is too well employed to remember injuries, and too engaged to bear malice.
[01:37.80]He is patient,tolerant, and resigned, on philosophical principles;
[01:44.25]he submits to pain,because it is inevitable,to the death of family members,
[01:49.95]because it is irreparable,and to death, because it is his destiny.
[01:55.85]If he engages in controversy of any kind,
[02:00.12]his disciplined intellect preserves him from the blundering discourtesy of better,
[02:05.48]though less educated minds;
[02:08.33]who, like blunt weapons,tear and hack instead of cutting clean,
[02:13.14]who mistake the point in argument,waste their strength on trifles,
[02:19.15]misconceive their adversary,
[02:21.34]and leave the question more involved than they find it.
[02:25.40]He may be right or wrong in his opinion, but he is too clear-headed to be unjust;
[02:33.49]he is as simple as he is forcible, and as brief as he is decisive.
[02:39.62]Nowhere shall we find greater candor, consideration, indulgence:
[02:45.52]he throws himself into the minds of his opponents,
[02:49.02]he accounts for their mistakes.
[02:51.10]He knows the weakness of human reason as well as its strength,
[02:55.59]its province and its limits.
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