Manners

I saw this quote attributed to Edmund Burke on Tumblr. Once I read this so many things seemed to come clear for me.
"Manners are of more importance than laws. Upon them, in a great measure, the laws depend. The law touches us but here and there, and now and then. Manners, are what vex or soothe, corrupt or purify, exalt or debase, barbarize or refine us, by a constant, steady, uniform, insensible operation, like that of the air we breathe in. They give their whole form and color to our lives. According to their quality, they aid morals; they supply them or they totally destroy them.”
Edmund Burke (via chasingtailfeathers)

The rudeness in society is rampant. We spend too much time chanting support for those that shout the loudest. Then you realize the futility of it, because these people who make their points by spouting the most or loudest rhetoric do not listen. They will do and say anything to keep talking. At times it feels like they don't even know what they support or why. Their ears are closed off because they themselves expect to be constantly talking. We have given too much credit to politicians, government bureaucracies, lawyers, banks, news shows, and celebrities. If they cannot hold Captain Kangaroo's magic words as revered markers of their own conduct, they are most likely a poor representative for what they preach. And they cannot be trusted.
We all laughed at the etiquette classes given in LDO/CWO School, but now I can see we didn't spend enough time on it. Good manners is a key to good leadership I think. We have become so analytical, and believe in decision tables, metrics with charts and graphs as the absolute truth. These are only tools, but have integrated them so completely in our lifestyle we forget the importance of manners, which is a path to develop respect.