An officer and a gentleman

Today there was an ugly spat in our office between an officer and a civilian staff member over something very, very innocuous. The officer hails from Haryana and is quite full of himself with the fact that his state produces adequate food material for his entire state but alas, there were too many migrants who’ve come into Delhi, causing shortages and the consequent spiralling of prices of essential goods. The civilian guy, who hails from Uttar Pradesh appears rustic, belies his appearance and is fairly well versed with the political, economic and social conditions of the area. He was touched to the quick and started reeling out statistics to show as to how the migrant labour was indeed being used by the local folk profitably, for their own ends. As the former
started losing his plot, he resorted to the next best alternative by asking the latter to shut up. After the acrimony was over, as a responsible senior I spoke to the junior, the jist of which is reproduced below and I must admit that this is what I’ve followed in my life, all through, and never once have I failed, as I reckon, but the confirmation can only be given by the others who’ve had close interaction with me but here I go:-
(a) As an officer, one is always expected to be an epitome of gentlemanliness, punctilious courtesy and a good human being.
(b) His concern for the others far exceeds the discomfort that he has to go through in ensuring their welfare/safety/genuine requirements.
(c) His words have to be weighed before he utters anything and as far as possible, he must be in full control of his emotions( a place where I still have miles to go!).
(d) He never discusses women or money at the dining table or in any public place.
(e) He never gets into any arguments, discusses controversial subjects like religion and as part of any discussion, if he were to realise that he’s wrong he should be gracious enough to admit it and withdraw.
And finally, I quoted a saying from the walls of Hunter Squadron at the NDA that I’d seen, both while standing in an upright position and while being upside down- as a part of the numerous ragging episodes- and reflected over it many times, which according to me, puts the whole thing so succinctly and in the right perspective,
“If you are a gentleman, nothing else matters
If you are not a gentleman, still nothing matters.”