Table of Contents

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

Ready-made opinions in American culture

PART ONE: THE WORDS

1. Do Unto Others

Words of Respect: The Evolution of the Golden Rule

2. We Hold These Truths

Words of Belief and Conviction: Creeds and Other Professions of Faith

3. So Help Me God

Words of Obedience: Loyalty Oaths and Pledges of Allegiance

4. 'Til Death Do Us Part

Words of Consent: Oaths of Citizenship, Rites of Secret Initiation, Temperance Pledges, and Wedding Vows

5. On My Honor I Will Do My Best

Words of Good Intent: Codes of Ethics and Conduct

6. To Thine Own Self Be True

Words of Experience: The Secrets of Success, Advice from Parents, and the Gospel According to Murphy, Parkinson, and Others

7. Semper Fi

Fighting Words: Mottoes, Maxims, and Slogans

8. In God We Trust

Words of Common Currency: The National Mottoes

9. Neither Snow Nor Rain Nor Heat Nor Gloom of Night

Words Set in Stone: Architectural Inscriptions of the American Renaissance

PART TWO: THE TEXTS

Golden Rules

Creeds

Oaths, Vows, and Pledges

Codes of Ethics and Conduct

Advice and Rules of Life

Mottoes, Maxims, and Slogans

Inscriptions

Sources, Notes, and Comments

Acknowledgments

Index

About the Author

Brian Burrell is a lecturer in mathematics at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He is author of Merriam Webster's Pocket Guide to Business and Everyday Math. Raised in Lexington, Massachusetts, he currently lives in Northampton.