day no. 15,553 continued... a gentlemen's roughness

Just the other day, I heard Doug Wilson paraphrase an Oscar Wilde quote as, "a gentlemen is one who never insults someone else by accident."

I looked it up and the actual quote is, "A gentleman is one who never hurts anyone's feelings unintentionally." -- Oscar Wilde

I actually prefer Wilson's paraphrase to Wilde's quote, but the sentiment is the same:  a gentlemen is not someone who never hurts someone else's feelings, it's someone who is careful enough not to do so haphazardly. A gentlemen never strikes lightly. He doesn't cause more pain by cutting timidly. He doesn't withhold a well-deserved blow.

Proverbs 27:5-6

Open rebuke is better than secret love.

Faithful are the wounds of a friend;

but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.