斯蒂芬森/
Whatisthetruedefinitionofagentleman? Thisquestionisnoteasytoanswercompletely; butwewilltry.
Firstofall, agentlemanisnotnecessarilyamanofwealth, ; ', however, “GoldenRule”.Thispracticallyincludesall, foruponthisrule, allrulesofconductandrulesofetiquette, howeverworldly, arebased.
Somecommonconceptionsofagentlemanarethese: agentlemanisalwaysconsiderateforthefeelingsofothers; hehastact, —, —thatistosay, heisquietandrefinedinmannerandspeech; ; —repose.
Agentlemanisneveratyrantorabully; therichupstartmaytreatservantsandsupposedinferiorswithharshnessorcontempt; , ; heisnotundulyfamiliarwiththem, , andshowsitinadelicateandeffectiveway.
, thetoneandmodulationofthevoice, thechoiceofwords, ; hemayuseslanganduseitfreely; ; hemayspeakandactonoccasionswithallthecarelessfreedomofayouthfulschoolboy; butheknowswhentodoso, andwhennot.
—stilllessshowy; buttheyarealwaysingoodtaste, neat, , —andknowingthathisappearancegivesnogroundsforcriticism, , andtotheinnerandouterharmonythatcharacterizesthewell-bredman.
Inhisactionsandmovementsheisdeliberateandyetalert, hemakesnounnecessarymovementswhenheisdoingathing—; themostgracefulwayofwalkingacrossaroom, orhandlingateacup, isthewaythatisfreestfromuselessandawkwardmovements.
Everymancannotberich; buteveryman, howeverpoor, howeverhumblehispositioninlife, canbe, inthetruestsenseoftheword, agentleman.
何谓“绅士”？这个问题很难全面地回答，不过我们可以来试试。
