The Principles.

I

Cogito in circulo

I think, in the circle.

We meet not to impress, but to think.

The circle is for reasoning, in public, among peers. Performance has no room here. Presentation does, but only as a vehicle for thought that must be tested.

II

Fides servanda est

Trust must be kept.

Discretion is the foundation of trust.

What is said in the circle stays in the circle. This is not a slogan. It is the condition without which nothing said in the circle is useful.

III

Sine computo

Without accounting.

Every member helps every member. Without invoice.

Introductions, reviews, hours, calls. No ledger. The ledger ruins the practice. If a ledger is needed, the circle is the wrong instrument.

IV

Nil captandum

Nothing to be acquired.

Those who acquire are excluded.

No soliciting. No prospecting. No disguised sales. The group is not a customer database. Violations end membership without appeal.

V

Adsum

I am present.

Attendance is not optional.

Gatherings require presence. The circle forms by the fact of people being in the same room repeatedly. Absence, repeated, ends membership.

VI

Amicus veritatis

A friend of the truth.

Criticism is a gift.

It is offered precisely, honestly, and without contempt. It is received with attention, and not with injury. The member who cannot receive it is protected from the circle, not served by it.

VII

Non ex anno

Not by year.

Age is not an argument.

In the circle, the sixteen-year-old and the twenty-three-year-old are equal participants. Seniority is not invoked. Competence is demonstrated, not declared.

VIII

Silentium loquitur

Silence speaks.

Silence is part of the conversation.

Not every exchange requires reply. Not every proposal requires immediate response. The circle honours the pause.

IX

Quod creditum, custodimus

What is entrusted, we guard.

We protect what is entrusted to us.

Confidences are kept indefinitely. Members are spoken of with care, outside the circle, in every context in which they are spoken of at all.

X

Exitus cum honore

Departure with honour.

Departure is honorable.

A member who leaves, for reasons of their own, is thanked. The door opens outward as well as inward. There is no penalty, and no pursuit.