Quotes from Brad Miner

There is a worldwide longing for civility.

Perfection is not given to any man. But an aspiration to perfection—to the highest possible standards in every aspect of life—is possible.

A compleat gentleman is a man who tries to do what is right and honorable in any given situation. He seeks harmony with the laws of God, or nature, and of man.

The compleat gentleman is not a perfect man.

To be properly educated, one must reject contemporary pedagogical enthusiasms.

A gentleman is contemplative in that he never ceases to refine his sense of reality.

A man is not made chivalrous by an extensive education. A college degree and advanced academic achievement are as often impediments to chivalry as they are inducements to it.

Chivalry is first and foremost the worldview of fighting men.

The compleat gentleman has always been akin to the warrior, but it does not follow that he has always been a soldier. When duty calls, he will be a fighter, but his martial skill may be practiced with his wits rather than his fists.

Chivalry is first and foremost the worldview of fighting men, and I am convinced that the decline of the gentlemanly ideal has occurred at least in part because men really are flabby—physically and spiritually.

Words have meaning, and we should respect them.

Coming close to death is a humbling experience.

When the next war comes—and it will (so history teaches us)—the burden of combat will not be carried by either strong women or weak men, although the sacrifice of the former will be warmly embraced by the best men.

Men and women don't have to be exactly equal, but a gentleman does have to allow a woman to be what she wants to be.

The egalitarianism that is the most offensive is the notion, whether embodied in opinion or law, that every way of behaving is as good as any other and that the man who stands apart by reason of his dignity, restraint, and discernment is somehow an Enemy of the People

We value education, but we do not understand its history.

I do confess that I bring to the study of history the prejudices born of my experiences and imagination—who doesn't—but I will not admit that this disqualifies me from seeing some bit of the truth about the past, even if only a bit.

I do not feel superior to nineteenth-century gentlemen or twelfth-century knights

chivalry demands that a man respect a woman's wishes. Needless to say, this does not mean that a compleat gentleman is his lady's lackey.

a gentleman today—however we may characterize him—may find his environment less congenial to his temperament.

A gentleman takes a woman on her own terms, and in doing so he puts the lie to ideological drivel about oppression.

Education is the empowerment of the mind to continuously seek the true and the beautiful, regardless of ideological distractions.

I propose three models—archetypes if you like—that comprise the dimensions of a chivalrous gentleman's character: the warrior, the lover, and the monk.

The compleat gentleman's rectitude does not prohibit him from having a sense of humor. His Stoic sense of life and his urbane education ought to give him wit.