The Word of a Gentleman: Rule Eight

A Gentleman is Observant
He knows that he needs be an active and informed participant.

When an adolescent blurts out his next non sequitur, it is not that he has no control over his words. He has no knowledge of his surroundings. That his remark "followed in no way" is a judgment that gathers that some of reality had remained unobserved. A word cannot be "fitly spoken" nor can it be "in season" if one does not know what it was attempting to fit or which season it is. Observation is the exercise of your sense faculties to gather to yourself more than what is said. Most of meaning comes into you in words, direct and unabashed in their definition. But if a Gentleman is to participate in ways better than those who could care less, he will note to himself every state and change along every axis in his surroundings and persons. It is simple for the observant man to refrain from flirting with a young woman flashing an engagement ring. It is incumbent on those that wish to stand apart from the herd to watch all movements, hear many conversations, select a variety of vantages because with such study your deeds will be remarked as fitting, refreshing, and even frightening in their perspicacity. When you don't know who some one is, ask. When you don't understand something, look it up. Whatever knowledge you gain is a tool for your actions and words. See to it that what you discover is accurate.

"He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall; he spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. And men came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom."
I Kings 4:33-34