POLITENESS AT HOME

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Oct 21, 1880

POLITENESS AT HOME.

A BOY who is polite to his father and mother is likely to be polite to every one else. A boy lacking politeness to his parents may have the semblance of courtesy in society, but is never truly polite in spirit, and is in danger, as he becomes familiar, of betraying his real want of courtesy. We are all in danger of living too much for the outside world, for the impression which we make in society, coveting the good opinions of those who are in a sense a part of ourselves, and who will continue to sustain and be interested in us, notwithstanding these defects

of deportment and character. We say to every boy and to every girl, cultivate the habit of courtesy and propriety at home—in the sitting-room and the kitchen, as well as the parlor—and you will be sure in other places to deport yourself in a becoming and attractive manner. When one has a pleasant smile and a graceful demeanor, it is a satisfaction to know that these are not put on, but that they belong to the character, and are manifest at all times and under all circumstances.