Conduct books are a genre of books that attempt to educate the reader on social norms. As a genre, they began in the mid-to-late Middle Ages, although antecedents such as The Maxims of Ptahhotep (ca. 2350 BC) are among the earliest surviving works. Conduct books remained popular through the 18th century, although they gradually declined with the advent of the novel.
Famous quotes containing the words conduct and/or book:
“Repentance keeps my heart impure;
But what am I that dare
Fancy that I can
Better conduct myself or have more
Sense than a common man?”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“The English Bible—a book which, if everything else in our language should perish, would alone suffice to show the whole extent of its beauty and power.”
—Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800–1859)
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