How to Master the Art of Conversation Like a Vintage Gentleman—From a Manual on Manners From the 1880s

Public Domain

The following is an excerpt from “Our Deportment,” a code of manners for refined society by John H. Young A.M., published in 1881. We offer it in hopes of promoting gentlemanly conduct among men—young and older—in today’s often unbalanced world.

Conversation.

THE character of a person is revealed by his conversation as much as by any one quality he possesses, for strive as he may, he cannot always be acting.