Brother Kurt shared this with me at the end of Poetry Month. I just re-found it, read it again and decided I wanted to use it today. It is from his College Fraternity Thanks Kurt.
The True Gentleman
The True Gentleman is the man whose conduct proceeds from good will and an acute sense of propriety, and whose self-control is equal to all emergencies;
who does not make the poor man conscious of his poverty, the obscure man of his obscurity, or any man of his inferiority or deformity; who is himself humbled if necessity compels him to humble another;
who does not flatter wealth, cringe before power, or boast of his own possessions or achievements; who speaks with frankness but always with sincerity and sympathy;
whose deed follows his word; who thinks of the rights and feelings of others, rather than his own; and who appears well in any company, a man with whom honor is sacred and virtue safe.
- John Walter Wayland (Virginia 1899)
Not only does "The True Gentleman" remind each brother and pledge of his Fraternity's code of behavior, it also serves that same function for non-members. And since it is something every member and pledge of Sigma Alpha Epsilon have in common, it helps bond us, providing part of the glue that holds us together. After all, gentlemanliness is the starting point and the indispensable quality of lasting friendships.
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