There are three things I really enjoy doing at the same time - drinking a cup of good coffee while having meaningful conversation about thought-provoking books. Okay, so I really do enjoy the first two things, but the conversation doesn't necessarily have to revolve around books.
Over the course of the summer, I will post a series of "conversations" / reflections on P.M. Forni's book, Choosing Civility: The Twenty-Five Rules of Considerate Conduct, which can be purchased here. Why this book? Well the honest answer is - because I have to. (This is afterall a book about civility, I'm sure there's a chapter on honesty in there somewhere.) This is an assignment, but this is also an interesting book in which Forni wants to make a case for making civility "a central concern in our lives" (Foreward).
From the back cover: In Choosing Civility, Forni offers 25 rules for connecting effectively with others - at home, at work, in our daily encounters. Forni covers topics that include:
- Think Twice Before Asking Favors
- Refrain from Idle Complaints
- Accept and Give Praise
- Don't Shift Responsibility and Blame
- Give Constructive Criticism
- Care for Your Guests
Forni suggests in the introduction that "we agree on one principle: that a crucial measure of our success in life is the way we treat one another every day of our lives" (4). More simply "good relationships make our lives good, and bad relationships make our lives bad" (6). What I appreciate most about the introduction to this book is that the measuring stick for success is a measure of the quality of our relationships. Forni could have used any number of indicators to objectify the quality of life like happiness or money. Instead Forni wants the quality of relationship to be the measure by which we guage our success in life.
Question to Ponder: What are some of our own measuring sticks that we use to measure success?
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