Abstract

In the Driftway
June 4, 1930 issue

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At best politeness is not a major virtue. At worst it may easily be a minor vice. A good deal of the time it is a kind of fawning ingratiation or strategic policy and sometimes it becomes downright hypocrisy or cowardice. In general any kind of politeness which is not innate or of the heart would better not be at all. That is why one counts among the lesser annoyances of modern life the parrot politeness which is imposed upon employees by an increasing number of corporate employers. Somebody has said that there is more talk about "service" and less of the thing itself in our day than ever before.

See Also:

COURTESY; HYPOCRISY; EMPLOYERS; EMPLOYEES; VIRTUE; ETIQUETTE
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