Officers and Gentlemen

When General Robert Edward Lee trained military officers, he taught them about the enormous power they would someday wield, and he also told them about gentlemanly restraint.  He wrote, “The forbearing use of power does not only form a touchstone, but the manner in which an individual enjoys certain advantages over others is a test of a true gentleman.
“The power which the strong have over the weak, the employer over the employed, the educated over the unlettered, the experienced over the confiding, even the clever over the silly--the forbearing or inoffensive use of all this power or authority, or a total abstinence from it when the case admits it, will show the gentleman in a plain light.”