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 . . . BEHAVIOR see "CIVILITY" for related links When I go to Rome, I fast on Saturday, but here [Milan] I do not. Do you always follow the custom of whatever church you attend, if you do not want to give or receive scandal. --St. Ambrose (c. 339-397) French-born bishop of Milan. (Usually quoted as "When in Rome do as the Romans do.") in "Letter 54 to Januarius" (A.D. c. 400) [ODTQ] or: When you are at Rome live in the Roman style; when you are elsewhere live as they live elsewhere. --St. Ambrose (c. 339-397) French-born bishop of Milan. Advice to St. Augustine, in Jeremy Taylor _Ductor Dubitantium_ [1660], 1, 1, 5 - "Please Will You Take Your Children Home Before I Do Them In" by Pam Ayers Please will you take your children home Before I do them in? I kissed your little son As he came posturing within. I took his little jacket And removed his little hat But now the visit's over So push off you little brat. And don't think for a moment That I didn't understand How the hatchet he was waving In his grotty little hand Broke my china teapot That I've always held so dear -- But would you mind removing him Before I smack his ear? Of course I wasn't angry As I shovelled up the dregs, I'm only glad the teabags Didn't scald his little legs. I'm glad he liked my chocolate cake I couldn't help but laugh As he rubbed it in the carpet -- Would he like the other half? He guzzled all the orange And he guzzled all the Coke -- The only thing that kept me sane Was hoping he might choke. [. . .] He's been playing in the garden And he's throttled all the flowers, Give the lad a marlinspike He'll sit out there for hours. I've gathered my insecticides And marked them with their name And put them up where children Couldn't reach them. That's a shame. Still he must have liked my dog Because he choked her half to death, She'll go out for another game Once she's caught her breath. He rode her round the garden And he lashed her with his rope She's never bitten anyone But still, we live in hope. He's kicked the TV now! I like to see it getting booted Kick it one more time son You might get electrocuted! Yes, turn up the volume, Twist the knobs, my little treasure And when the programme's over There's the door. It's been a pleasure. - Most men are bad. --Bias (c. 6th cent. B.C.) Greek politician of Priene; considered one of the Seven Sages of Greece. - Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do you even so to them. --Bible, New Testament, Matthew 7:12 Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. --Bible, New Testament, Matthew 7:14 - Take the tone of the company you are in. --Lord Chesterfield [Philip Dormer Stanhope] (1694-1773) British writer and politician, _Letters to his Son_ [1774] "16 October 1747" He that is good will infallibly become better, and he that is bad will as certainly become worse; for vice, virtue, and time are three things that never stand still. --C.C. Colton (1780-1832) English clergyman and writer Behavior which appears superficially correct, but is intrinsically corrupt, always irritates those who see below the surface. --James Bryant Conant (1883-1978) American chemist, educational administrator, and professor Baccalaureate Address, Harvard College [1934] - A womanly disposition, as shown in modesty and submissiveness. Womanly language. She should be careful in the choice of words, and avoid lying and unseemly expressions. She should speak when necessary, and be silent at other times. She should not be adverse to listening to others. --Kaibara Ekken (1630-1714) Japanese philosopher, travel writer, and botanist, _Dojikun_ (Instructions for Children) {on the two great virtues of women} - This letter will, to you, be as one from the dead. The writer will be in the grave before you can weigh its counsels. Your affectionate and excellent father has requested that I would address to you something which might possibly have a favorable influence on the course of life you have to run, and I too, as a namesake, feel an interest in that course. Few words will be necessary, with good dispositions on your part. Adore God. Reverence and cherish your parents. Love your neighbor as yourself, and your country more than yourself. Be just. Be true. Murmur not at the ways of Providence. So shall the life into which you have entered, be the portal to one of eternal and ineffable bliss. And if to the dead it is permitted to care for the things of this world, every action of your life will be under my regard. Farewell. . . A Decalogue of Canons for observation in practical life: 1. Never put off till to-morrow what you can do to-day. 2. Never trouble another for what you can do yourself. 3. Never spend your money before you have it. 4. Never buy what you do not want, because it is cheap; it will be dear to you. 5. Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst and cold. 6. We never repent of having eaten too little. 7. Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly. 8. How much pain have cost us the evils which have never happened. 9. Take things always by their smooth handle. 10. When angry, count ten, before you speak; if very angry, an hundred. --Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American statesman and president [1801-1809] Whenever you are to do a thing, though it can never be known but to yourself, ask yourself how you would act were the entire world looking at you, and act accordingly. --Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American statesman and president [1801-1809] - Every man has three characters--that which he exhibits, that which he has, and that which he thinks he has. --Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr (1808-1890) French novelist and journalist Your disposition will be suitable to that which you most frequently think on; for the soul is, as it were, tinged with the color and complexion of its own thoughts. --Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180) Roman emperor [161-180] and Stoic philosopher It is an open question whether any behavior based on fear of eternal punishment can be regarded as ethical or should be regarded as merely cowardly. --Margaret Mead (1901-1978) American anthropologist Don't reserve your best behavior for special occasions. You can't have two sets of manners, two social codes - one for those you admire and want to impress, another for those whom you consider unimportant. You must be the same to all people. --Lillian Eichler Watson ----- aberrant a-BERR-unt; AB-ur-unt, adjective: Markedly different from an accepted norm; Deviating from the ordinary or natural type; abnormal. decorous (adj.) Not offensive in behavior, manners, appearance, or the like; proper; well-behaved. Syn.: proper, decent, mannerly Related: genteel, civil, tasteful, prim, respectable, polite, refined Derived: decorously, adv.; decorousness, n. diffident (adj.) ['di-fi-dênt] Shy, bashful, or hesitant as a result of a lack of self-confidence. diffidence: noun miscreant MIS-kree-uhnt, adjective: 1. Disbelieving; heretical. 2. Depraved; behaving badly. noun: 1. A disbeliever; a heretic. 2. A scoundrel; an evildoer; a villain. No one would think to look for him in a fourth-floor jail cell atop this small-town county courthouse, a face unrecognizable among the town drunks and petty thieves and other local miscreants. --Richard A. Serrano, "One of Ours" ostentatious (adj.) [ahs-ten-'tey-shês] Spectacular, gaudy and superficial in appearance or behavior for display. raffish (adj.) 1. Displaying a charming free-spirited disregard for the conventions of society or for approved behavior 2. Displaying an exaggerated or obtrusive showiness refractory ih-FRAK-tuh-ree, adjective: 1. Stubbornly disobedient; unmanageable. 2. Resisting ordinary treatment or cure. 3. Difficult to melt or work; capable of enduring high temperature. solecism (noun) A socially awkward or tactless act. Synonyms: faux pas, gaffe, slip, gaucherie termagant TUR-muh-guhnt, noun: 1. A scolding, nagging, bad-tempered woman; a shrew. 2. Overbearing; shrewish; scolding.   BELGIUM . . see "PLACES" for related links Belgium is a country invented by the British to annoy the French. --Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970) French general and politician . . . [QUOTES FOLLOW LINKS] see: ATTITUDE CERTAINTY CONVICTION DOUBT FAITH FANATICS/FANATICISM FEMINISTS IDEALISM, IDEALS, IDEOLOGY MARTYRS MORAL CERTAINTY OPINION PERCEPTIONS PHILOSOPHY RADICAL THOUGHT SKEPTICISM SUPERSTITION WOMEN'S LIB For what a man would like to be true, that he more readily believes. --Francis Bacon (1561-1626) English philosopher and essayist. _Novum Organum_ [1620], bk. I, Aphorism 49 As a man is, so he sees. --William Blake (1757-1827) English poet. Letter to Rev. D. Trusler [23 August 1799] There are those who believe something, and therefore will tolerate nothing; and on the other hand, those who tolerate everything, because they believe nothing. --Robert Browning (1812-1889) English poet. Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it. --Buddha [Gautama] (c. 6th-4th century B.C.) Founder of Buddhism It is always easier to believe than to deny. Our minds are naturally affirmative. --John Burroughs (1837-1921) American naturalist and writer, _The Light of Day_ [1900] "The Modern Skeptic" Men believe that willingly which they wish to be true. --Gaius Julius Caesar (100 B.C.-44 B.C.) Roman military and political leader He that will believe only what he can fully comprehend, must have a very long head, or a very short creed. --C.C. Colton (1780-1832) English clergyman and writer The price of seeking to force our beliefs on others is that some day they might force their beliefs on us. --Mario Cuomo (1932- ) American lawyer and politician I do not pretend to know where many ignorant men are sure -- that is all that agnosticism means. --Clarence Darrow (1857-1938) American lawyer, speech at the trial of John Thomas Scopes [15 July 1925] We believe at once in evil; we only believe in good upon reflection. Is not this sad? --Madame Dorothée Deluzy (1747-1830) French actress. Faith is a fine invention When gentlemen can see. But microscopes are prudent In an emergency. --Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) American poet, _Poems_ {Second Series 1891] "Faith Is a Fine Invention" Credulity is belief in slight evidence, with no evidence, or against evidence. --Tryon Edwards (1809-1894) American theologian. We are born believing. A man bears beliefs, as a tree bears beauty. --Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American philosopher and poet, "Worship" _The Conduct of Life_ [1860] Man is a rational animal. He can think up a reason for anything he wants to believe. --Anatole France [Jacques Anatole Thibault] (1844-1924) French novelist and man of letters A man must have a good deal of vanity who believes, and a good deal of boldness who affirms, that all the doctrines he holds are true, and all he rejects are false. --Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American politician, inventor, and scientist. He that knows nothing will believe anything. --Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English writer and physician Men often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it even if I didn't have it in the beginning. --Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian statesman and leader of the nationalistic movement against British rule No matter how I probe and prod I cannot quite believe in God. But oh! I hope to God that he Unswervingly believes in me. --E.Y. "Yip" Harburg (1896-1981) American songwriter, "The Agnostic" [1965] Belief is harder to shake than knowledge. --Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) German dictator We are all tattooed in our cradles with the beliefs of our tribe; the record may seem superficial, but it is indelible. You cannot educate a man wholly out of the superstitious fears which were implanted in his imagination, no matter how utterly his reason may reject them. --Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894) American physician, poet, and essayist More important than any belief a man holds is the way he holds it. --Sidney Hook (1902-1989) American educator and social philosopher A wise man proportions his belief to the evidence. --David Hume (1711-1776) Scottish philosopher The believer is happy; the doubter is wise. --Hungarian Proverb Every man gives his life for what he believes. Sometimes people believe in little or nothing yet they give their lives to that little or nothing. One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it and then it is gone. But to sacrifice what you are and live without belief, that's more terrible than dying. --Joan of Arc (1412-1431) National heroine of France, a peasant girl who, acting as she believed under divine inspiration, led the French to a momentous victory that was a turning point in the Hundred Years' War - EB The constant assertion of belief is an indication of fear. --Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895-1986) Indian spiritual philosopher Everyone believes very easily whatever they fear or desire. --Jean de La Fontaine (1621-1695) French poet Credulity is the man's weakness, but the child's strength. --Charles Lamb (1775-1834) English essayist. _Essays of Elia_ [1823] "Witches, and Other Night-Fears" Earthly minds, like mud walls, resist the strongest batteries: and though, perhaps, sometimes the force of a clear argument may make some impression, yet they nevertheless stand firm, and keep out the enemy, truth, that would captivate or disturb them. Tell a man passionately in love that he is jilted; bring a score of witnesses of the falsehood of his mistress, it is ten to one but three kind words of hers shall invalidate all their testimonies. --John Locke (1632-1704) English political and educational philosopher, _An Essay Concerning Human Understanding_ [1690], bk. 4, ch. 20, "Of Wrong Assent, or Error" If an idiot were to tell you the same story every day for a year, you would end by believing it. --Horace Mann (1796-1859) American educator If it were an innocent, passive gullibility, it would be excusable; but all too clearly, alas, it is an active willingness to be deceived. --Peter Medawar (1915-1987), review of Teilhard de Chardin _The Phenomenon of Man [1961] The curse of man, and the cause of nearly all his woe, is his stupendous capacity for believing the incredible. --H.L. (Henry Louis) Mencken (1880-1956) American journalist and literary critic. How strange it is to see with how much passion People see things only in their own fashion --Jean Molière [Jean Baptiste Poquelin] (1622-1673) French comic dramatist, "The School for Wives: A Comedy in Five Acts" (1662) - Nothing is so firmly believed as what is least known. --Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (1533-1592) French moralist and essayist _Essays_ [1588], bk. I, ch. 32 , tr. Donald M. Frame [1958] Man prefers to believe what he prefers to be true. --Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (1533-1592) French moralist and essayist, _Essays_ - We *can believe what we choose.* We are answerable for what we choose to believe. --John Henry Newman (1801-1890) English theologian and leader of the Oxford movement, later Cardinal. Letter to Mrs. William Froude [27 June 1848] One's belief in truth begins with doubt of all truths one has believed hitherto. --Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900) German classical scholar, philosopher, and critic of culture We are slow to believe what if believed would hurt our feelings. --Ovid [Publius Ovidius Naso] (43 B.C.-18 A.D.) Roman poet Let us believe neither half of the good people tell us of ourselves, nor half the evil they say of others. --Jean-Antoine Petit-Senn (1792-1870) French-Swiss lyric poet. The big issue of our times is surely not the absence of a set of common values in a multicultural society. It is rather a battle between people who believe in something and those who believe in nothing: not in knowledge, not it authority, not in moral absolutes, and above all, not in themselves. --Melanie Phillips British journalist, _All Must Have Prizes_ [1996] To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection. --Jules Henri Poincaré (1854-1912) French mathamatician and philosopher of science, _Science and Hypothsis_ [1903], author's preface The weaker the intellect, the stronger the belief --James Dee Richardson - We believe, first and foremost, what makes us feel that we are fine fellows. --Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) British philosopher, mathematician, and Nobel laureate, "An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish" The man who has no tincture of philosophy goes through life imprisoned in the prejudices derived from common sense, from the habitual beliefs of his age or his nation, and from convictions which have grown up in his mind without the cooperation or consent of his deliberate reason. --Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) British philosopher, mathematician, and Nobel laureate, Man is a credulous animal, and must believe *something,* in the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones. --Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) British philosopher, mathematician, and Nobel laureate, _Unpopular Essays_ [1950] "Outline of Intellectual Rubbish" - It is not disbelief that is dangerous to our society; it is belief. --George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish comic dramatist, literary critic, Socialist propagandist, and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925 {EB} The man scarce lives who is not more credulous than he ought to be, and who does not, upon many occasions, give credit to tales, which not only turn out to be perfectly false, but which a very moderate degree of reflection and attention might have taught him could not well be true. The natural disposition is always to believe. It is acquired wisdom and experience only that teach incredulity, and they very seldom teach it enough. The wisest and most cautious of us all frequently gives credit to stories which he himself is afterwards both ashamed and astonished that he could possibly think of believing. --Adam Smith (1723-1790) Scottish economist, _The Theory of Moral Sentiments_ [1759], pt. VII , sec. IV If the man doesn't believe as we do, we say he is a crank and that settles it. I mean it does nowadays, because we can't burn him. --Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835-1910) American humorist, novelist, journalist, and river pilot The person ready to believe unlikely and unproved things is readily made a slave of by the crafty. --Voltaire (Francois Marie Arouet) (1694-1778) French writer and philosopher My own belief is not rule for another. --John Wesley (1703-1791) English preacher and founder of Methodism, in Henry Thomas and Dana Lee Thomas, "John Wesley." _Living Biographies of Religious Leaders_ [1942] ----- aphorism (noun) ['æ-fê-ri-zêm] A concise definition of a principle of science; any terse expression of a truth or belief. apothegm (noun) ['æ-pê-them] A terse saying that sums up a philosophical insight or conclusion; a maxim, an aphorism. A short, witty, and instructive saying. Suggested Usage: Here are a few examples to help clarify the meaning of this word. One of Thomas Jefferson's better apothegms was, "In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." Henry David Thoreau wrote, "Thank God men cannot as yet fly and lay waste the sky as well as the earth!" (He seemed to anticipate the day of human flight.) Kathleen Casey Thiesen gave us this apothegm to ponder: "Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional." Apothegms are the signposts marking the various routes along which we ravel our lives. Synonyms: adage, aphorism, maxim, proverb, saw. credulous KREJ-uh-lus, adjective: 1. Ready or inclined to believe on slight or uncertain evidence. 2. Based on or proceeding from a disposition to believe too readily. Ex.: "To her critics, she was a madam and con artist who charged credulous clients ... small fortunes to cast spells and bring about the deaths of rivals." --Laurence Bergreen, _Louis Armstrong: An Extravagant Life_ ethos (noun) The basic underlying attitudes and beliefs of a group, movement, or culture, which give it its character. Syn.: ideology posit POZ-it, transitive verb: 1. To assume as real or conceded. 2. To propose as an explanation; to suggest. 3. To dispose or set firmly or fixedly. Ex.: Among other things, the researchers posit that the behavior of the muscles during laughter probably explains why phrases like "weak with laughter" pops up in many different languages. --"How Muscles Can Go Weak With Laughter," _New York Times_, [14 September 1999] putative PYOO-tuh-tiv, adjective: Commonly thought or deemed; supposed; reputed. recant (verb) Formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure. Synonyms: abjure, forswear, retract, resile tenet TEN-it, noun: Any opinion, principle, dogma, belief, or doctrine that a person holds or maintains as true. zeitgeist (noun) The spirit of the age; the popular outlook or trend of a particular period or generation. end page | BABIES | BACH - BALLET | BANANAS - BARTENDERS | BASEBALL | BASTARDS & BATH (ENGLAND) | BE YOURSELF - BEATLES (THE) | BEAUTY | BED - BEGINNINGS | BEHAVIOR & BELGIUM | BELIEF | BENNY (JACK) - BEST (DO YOUR) | BETRAYAL & BIBLE | BICYCLES - BIGOTRY | BILL OF RIGHTS - BIRDS | BIRTH - BIRTHDAYS | BITTERNESS & BLAIR (TONY) | BLAME - BLOGGING | BLONDES - BOOK BURNING | BODY (THE) | BOOKS | BOOMERS (THE) - BORROWING | BOSTON & BOXING | BOYS & BRAGGING | BRAIN (THE) - BREAKING UP | BREASTS - BRITAIN | BROADWAY - BUBBLES (ECONOMIC) | BUGS BUNNY - BUREAUCRACY | BURMA SHAVE & BURNS & ALLEN | BUSINESS - BUSYBODIES | | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | | Return Home | The Credits | The Cast | Act 1 | Act 2 | Act 3 | The End | The Reviews | |
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