George Washington's Rules to Live By

George Washington's Rules to Live By — page 3 — to Foreword to tiquette manners civility they all boil down to how we treat one another and how we hope to be seen and understood by those around us Many people say manners are gone that etiquette no longer exists I believe they are wrong Emily Post my great great grandmother always said When two people come together and their lives affect one another you have etiquette By this definition etiquette is alive every day However it is up to good into our to us bring etiquette lives and extend it graciously to those we encounter whether holding a door for a stranger or sharing with our closest family and friends At the Emily Post Institute we base our etiquette advice on the principles of consideration respect and honesty These principles stand the test of time Manners are the actions that we take in order to convey these principles It s respectful

George Washington's Rules to Live By — page 4 — to greet someone you meet to let them know you welcome their presence Today we do this by smiling giving a hand shake or a hug In previous eras a curtsy or a bow showed respect and welcomed a gentleman or lady s presence This goes to show that manners have a wonderful habit of changing as the way we live our lives changes while the underlying principles remain the same George Washington certainly never grappled with whether to answer his cell phone in front of a friend or business colleague He never had to think about whether to offer someone a seat on the subway or how to politely reply to an email However he had to know how to politely handle a messenger bringing news and how to welcome strangers as guests at Mount Vernon He had to know which side of the street to walk on when escorting his wife around town He also had to know proper coach etiquette when sharing a ride with others While each of these things may be handled differently today and while many of them are obsolete the principles of etiquette that drive manners always remain the same Be considerate and aware of those around you be respectful of those you encounter and understand how your actions will either positively or negatively affect them And always be honest and sincere with your actions As long as we are sincere with our intentions even if we make a mistake others will know we meant no harm or disrespect George Washington s Rules to Live By offers a fun and engaging look at how civility etiquette and manners were important to one of our nation s most beloved historical figures and how the rules he chose to live by in the 18th century are still worth living by today Lizzie Post The Emily Post Institute

George Washington's Rules to Live By — page 5 — Introduction George s Rule 1 very Action done in Company ought to be with Some Sign of Respect to those that are Present This means don't disrespect your bros whether it s your kid brother your friend your teacher your mom or hey yourself W e call George Washington the Father of Our Country and he s one of the best loved Americans ever He had a real knack for inspiring and leading people which he did mostly by his example So what exactly made him such a great man Of course nobody is really sure how to answer that but here s something we do know When George was a boy in Virginia he hand copied a list called The Rules of Civility Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation The rules were old even in George s day They had been written almost 150 years before by French

George Washington's Rules to Live By — page 6 — Jesuits priests and teachers in the Catholic Church and passed on from generation to generation The rules covered just about everything how to have good table manners how to respect other people how to be a good citizen even how to sit stand talk and what expression to have on your face There are no of these rules but some of them are a lot alike so we ve chosen 50 of our favorites for this book We've also kept the strange spellings commas and capital letters just the way George had them If you'd like to check out the full list head to page 120 Some of the rules will seem kind of silly now and they'll probably give you a good laugh But scholars think that G W really took them to heart and decided to live by them Things were much stricter back then than they are today Children were expected to behave like proper little ladies and gentlemen And that s exactly what George wanted to be proper But morethan anything else he wanted to be an honorable man and the rules about how to become that In fact the first rule stated opposite and the last on page 119 sum up all the rest By the final rule you'll know how to be a proper lady or gentleman yourself and a very honorable person as well someone George would

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