Contrary to popular belief, to be a gentleman is all about behavior. Everything after that, style included, follows.
While the "rules" of manhood have definitely changed, being courteous and honorable are still the way to go.
Here are some of our favorite quotes about being a gentleman. Read them and take them to heart.
"Any man may be in good spirits and good temper when he's well dressed. There ain't much credit in that."
—Charles Dickens
"A gentleman is someone who does not what he wants to do, but what he should do."
—Haruki Murakami
"Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers."
—Voltaire
"A man should look as if he has bought his clothes with intelligence, put them on with care and then forgotten all about them."
—Hardy Amies
"A man does what he must—in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures—and that is the basis of all human morality."
—John F. Kennedy
"You can never be overdressed or overeducated."
—Oscar Wilde
"Education begins the gentleman, but reading, good company
—John Locke
"Courtesy is as much a mark of a gentleman as courage."
—Theodore Roosevelt
"It’s fine to celebrate success, but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure."
—Bill Gates
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry."
—Abraham Lincoln
"Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
"Treat everyone like a gentleman, not because they are, but because you are".
—Ed Sabol
"A gentleman is one who never hurts anyone's feelings unintentionally."
—Oscar Wilde
"A man is only as good as his words are."
—Frank Sinatra
"To be noticed without striving to be noticed, this is what elegance is about."
—Luciano Barbera
"Clothes and manners do not make the man; but when he is made, they greatly improve his appearance."
—Arthur Ashe
"The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively."
—Bob Marley
"Make it simple, but significant."
—Don Draper
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"A gentleman is one who puts more into the world than he takes out."
—George Bernard Shaw
"We sometimes meet an original gentleman, who, if manners had not existed, would have invented them."
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
"The final test of a gentleman is his respect for those who can be of no possible service to him."
—William Lyon Phelps