HOW AND WHY OF ETIQUETTE
RULES THAT GOVERN THE DRESS AND MANNERS OF PEOPLE OF GOOD BREEDING AND THE CUSTOMS IT IS SO EMBARRASSING NOT TO KNOW
"Teaching manners and morals is plainly one of the most important parts of education."—DR. CHARLES W. ELIOT, President Emeritus of Harvard.
THE PRINCIPLES OF GOOD MANNERS
"Good morning."
That's the way to begin each day in society—with a pleasant greeting. And you are "in society" as soon as you are outside your bedroom door. Did you ever think of that? You will never find better company, anywhere in the world, than in your own family, so don't save your best manners for strangers. They won't wear out by using them. On the contrary, good manners are a habit. If they are not begun at home and constantly practiced there, you may forget to put them on when strangers are about. As you go through life you will want to make friends of the very nicest people you meet. But if you are boorish in your manners, well-bred strangers will not care to know you.
"But there are so many rules it is hard to remember all of them," you say.
There aren't so many, really. It's like Arithmetic—a few rules and a great many examples. One of them has been put into a rhyme that you should commit to memory:
- "Politeness is to do and say
- The kindest thing in the kindest way."
Think how many acts that one rule should inspire. Your very first thought should be to care for other people's feelings. Next, you should be self-forgetful, self-possessed and self-respecting. Third, be natural. A selfish person may know all the customs of good society, but he never can be perfectly well-bred. A self-conscious person is
