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:
“The conduct of God who disposes all things kindly, is to put religion into the mind by reason, and into the heart by grace. But to attempt to put it into the mind and heart by force and threats is not to put religion there, but terror.”
—Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)
“Every book teaches a lesson, even if the lesson is only that one has chosen the wrong book.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
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