George Washington's Rules for Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation

By age sixteen, Washington had copied out by hand, 110 Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation. They are based on a set of rules composed by French Jesuits in 1595. Anyone that might read these rules today is likely to believe a number of them silly, and likely dismiss them as being 'outdated' and more 'appropriate to a time of quills and powdered wigs than a modern age,' but they reflect something that is increasingly difficult to find in today's high-tech world: focus. This collection of rules is ideal for today, in earnest, as they proclaim our respect for others (without needing to speak a word in most cases) and in turn give us a heightened self-esteem and the gift of self-respect. Just imagine if everyone in the nation practiced these rules. Imagine further being a beacon of hope to the world, that the entire world might embrace such a system, just how much greater a world we would have to leave to our children!