Nobility before Decoration

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The habit of acting from the highest considerations is that which makes a man noble. The recognition of nobility may be conferred upon men, but not nobility itself. The king lays a sword on a man’s shoulder and calls him a knight; but he was a knight before he was knighted, or he would not have received the title. It was the heroic endurance, the death-defying courage, the skill and coolness with which he achieved his notable deeds, that made him a knight. He was in himself royal and noble, and the king said to all men, “I see it,” when he laid his sword on his shoulder.

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