Rules of Civility: The 110 Precepts that Guided Our First President in War and Peace

As a young man, George Washington admired and copied into a little notebook 110 rules for civil behavior that originated from a Jesuit textbook. Washington took these rules very much to heart, and that handwritten list remained with him throughout his life, serving as inspiring guidance from his military days at Valley Forge and Yorktown to his two terms as president.Guidance that at first sounds archaic, it is in fact just as relevant as—indeed, possibly more necessary than—it was nearly three hundred years ago. Richard Brookhiser makes clear the pertinence of these rules for modern readers and proposes that now more than ever we will be wise to follow the modest example of such a great man. Witty and insightful, Brookhiser’s commentary offers real-world instruction in the lost art of self-discipline, and his new preface provides a compelling and timely context in which to employ these guidelines today.

Customer Reviews:

recipe for decency

By Orrin C. Judd "brothersjudddotcom" - February 17, 2001

Though certainly the most ubiquitous, George Washington has also always been the most mysterious of the Founding Fathers; the one whose greatness is most difficult for us to comprehend. Here was a man who was less well spoken and less brilliant than many of his peers. He was not a great philosophical or political thinker. He lost most of the military engagements he led. And yet, the men of whom we think more highly in these regards almost universally revered him. What quality was it that made men like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton and the Marquise de Lafayette defer to him ? The answer must surely lie in the character of the man, and character seems to be a uniquely difficult quality to convey in writing. Perhaps it is actually impossible to describe the quality itself; instead the effects of it must be described. One example from Washington's life seems to me to stand out above all others : his handling of the Newburgh Conspiracy. When,... read more

Should Be Standard Issue

By sergeant_al - January 4, 2002

If I win the lottery I am buying the entire supply and handing them out on the street corners. Our society would be a lot more tolerable if everyone followed these simple rules of manners and courtesy. What would Washington have written about inconsiderate cell phone use? A must read for everyone. Buy this as a gift for your teenager or college student. Start your own revolution against boorish behavior.

The rules are still valid today

By MillerRick@aol.com - August 21, 1998

What could be better than to learn what made the most important man in American history act the way he did? The precepts are as vaild today as they were in George Washington's time. Richard Brookhiser's editoral comments are educational as well as entertaining. Being a rather short book, I recommend reading it a least twice.