George Washington's Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior @ Foundations Magazine

Both Washington and Franklin wrote about behavior and virtue. Franklin had thirteen virtues he tried to live by which he wrote in his early twenties. Franklin's concern was for his own virtue. Washington wrote out his rules for civility when he was sixteen. What has always struck me was Washington's concern for others. Perhaps we should think about civility as Washington did with that concern for others.

From the article:
"Today many, if not all of these rules, sound a little fussy if not downright silly. It would be easy to dismiss them as outdated and appropriate to a time of powdered wigs and quills, but they reflect a focus that is increasingly difficult to find. The rules have in common a focus on other people rather than the narrow focus of our own self-interests that we find so prevalent today. Fussy or not, they represent more than just manners. They are the small sacrifices that we should all be willing to make for the good of all and the sake of living together.

These rules proclaim our respect for others and in turn give us the gift of self-respect and heightened self-esteem."