In the common civilized compliments of life, there is no falsehood uttered, because there is no intention to deceive. And polite language is always agreeable to the ears, and lends a soothing influence to the heart, while unkind and rough words and actions, harshly uttered and displayed are just the reverse. Has someone you used to care about done you so wrong that you forget you every cared about them and that they are human, forget they have feelings, and just generally cannot find it in your heart to ever forgive the person? Tonight, I was listening to a song by E40 and it was very vulgar and explicit, and I could really feel where he is coming from, but I am getting older and growing up and do not want to set a bad example, so I turned on Messed Up and Read Between the Lines by Aaliyah. And it makes me think that I no longer think of a particular person and some other individuals as humans, I have truly started to look at them as monsters and do not even care about them. Because no matter how many times I forgive them, or try to be nice to them, and try to show them the right way of how to do things, they never change and their bad behavior just increases and they get even more bold. So that is not the kind of people nor energy I want in my life. #RandolphHarris 1 of 9

Generally, in spirituality, the central ideas which hold the group together are commonly those of love and peace.  Etiquette has been defined as a code of laws which binds society together—viewless as the wind—and yet exercising a vast influence upon the well-being of human kind. Where we are not permanent. God has extraordinary blessings in the future. Blessings that will propel those who have faith to a higher level. Immeasurable, limitless, surpassing favor is coming that will take children of God beyond previous limitations. And manners are of more importance than laws, for upon them in a great measure the laws depend. Manners are what vex or soothe, corrupt or purify, exalt or debase, barbarize or refine, by a constant, steady, uniform and 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 assist morals, they supply the, or they totally destroy them. It is often said that such a person’s pleasant, affable manners made one’s fortune. And it is a truth that politeness and good-breeding go far towards forming both a man and a woman’s reputation, and stamp upon them, as it were their current value, in the circles wherein they move. #RandolphHarris 2 of 9

Philosophic intention is clearer insight into the ultimate structure of facts, and philosophic progress does not consist in acquiring new knowledge of new facts, but in acquiring new knowledge of facts.  Virtue and knowledge are one, and if people fail to live well, it is through ignorance of what virtue really is. If people knew what virtue was, they would embody it in their conduct. Agreeable manners are very frequently the products of a good heart, and then they will surely please, even though they may lack somewhat of graceful, courtly polish. There is hardly anything of greater importance to children of either gender than good-breeding; and if parents and teachers would perform their duties faithfully, there would not be so much complaint concerning the manners of the American child of the period. Be courteous, it is an apostolical injunction which we should ever bear in mind. Let us train up our children to behave at the house as we would have them act abroad; for we may be certain that, while they are children, they will conduct themselves abroad as they have been in the habit of doing under similar circumstances at the house. Train up a child in the way he or she should go, and when he or she is old, they will go on reflectiveness.  #RandolphHarris 3 of 9

By reflectiveness is meant the habit of considering events and beliefs in the light of their grounds and consequences. Conduct prompted merely by impulse or desire is notorious likely to be misguided, and this holds true of both intellectual and practical conduct. Whether a belief is warranted must be decided by the evidence it rests on and the implications to which it leads, and one can become aware of these only by reflection. Similarly, whether an action is right or wrong depends, at least in part, on the results that is produces in the way of good and evil, and these results can be taken into account only by one who look carefully considers one’s actions and thinks about the outcome. Common sense, with its rules and proverbs, no doubt helps, but it is too rough and general a guide to be relied on safely, and the reflective person will have at his or her command a broader view of grounds and consequences, causes and effects. One will more readily recognize the beliefs of superstition, charlatanism, and bigotry for what they are because one will question the evidence for them and note that when reflectively devolved, they conflict with beliefs known to be true. #RandolphHarris 4 of 9

In the same way, one will be able to recognize some proposals for action as rash, partisan, or shortsighted because certain consequences have been ascribed to them falsely and others have been ignored. In some activities wisdom consists almost wholly of such foresight. A general, for example, is accounted wise if he can foresee in detail how each of the courses open to him will affect the prospect of victory. Enter a house where the parents are civil and courteous towards all within the family circle—whether guests or constant inmates—and you will see that their children are the same; that good manners are learned quite as much by imitation as by fixed rules or principles. Go into a family where the parents are rude, illbred and indulge in disputations and unkind remarks, and you will find the children are rough, uncouth, and bearish. Good manners are not merely conventional rules, but are founded upon reason and good sense and are, therefore, the most worthy of the consideration of all; and there are many point of good-breeding which neither time nor place will ever change, because they are founded upon a just regard of human for human. #RandolphHarris 5 of 9

There is a wisdom of ends as well as means, which is here denoted by judgment. The goal of the general—namely victory—is laid down for him, but the ordinary man needs the sort of wisdom that can appraise and choose one’s own ends. The highest wisdom is self-sacrificing love. Judgments of good and bad are not expressions of knowledge at all but only of desire and emotion. And emotions are not necessarily a bad thing nor something to be ashamed of. One may be certain that pleasure is better than pain and yet be at a loss to prove it; the insight seems to be immediate. We frequently hear these questions asked: “Who is a lady? and who is a gentleman?” The answers may be difficult to supply on account of the great differences of opinion in various classes of society, upon this subject. Some would declare that position, advantageous surroundings, great riches, high birth, or superior intelligence and education, give requisites; but all of our readers know of persons who possess some one or more of these advantages, and yet they cannot lay true claims to this desirable and distinctive appellation. #RandolphHarris 6 of 9

Hence we frequently hear these words—“Ah! she is no lady!” or, “Indeed, he is no gentleman!” applied to those whose standing is high; who possess much wealth; or are endowed with genius; but have neglected to ass to their other advantages the touchstone of politeness and good-breeding. Our reply to the question is that a well-bred lady is one who to true modesty and refinement, adds a scrupulous attention to the rights and feelings of those whom she associates, whether they are rich or poor, and who is the same both in the kitchen or parlor. Whoever is true, loyal, and sincere; whoever is of humane and affable demeanor, and courteous to all; whoever is honorable in oneself, and in one’s judgment of others, and requires no law but one’s words to hold one to one’s engagements;–such a person is a gentleman,–whether he be dressed in broadcloth and in fine linen or be clad in a blue homespun frock;–whether his hands are white and soft, or hardened and stained with drudgery. Just like you see a woman in the parlor, we see her in the kitchen. Never a cross word passes her lips, be it rich or poor, servant or friend. This is a high meed of praise—and when a country address and ease of manner are added to it, we behold a true lady. #RandolphHarris 7 of 9

Enlarge your vision and make room for the things God wants you to do. The economy maybe down, but I know God still sits on the throne. Good and mercy are following me this year, I know it will be great. Differences about intrinsic goods may be due to mere lack of knowledge on one side or the other. The Puritans who condemned music and drama as worthless could hardly have excluded them if they had known what they were excluding; in these matters, wider experience brings an amended judgment. Also, what appears to be intuitive insight may express nothing more than a confirmed habit or prejudice. Where deep-seated feelings are involved, as in matters of gender, race, or religion, the certainty that belongs to clear insight may be confused with the wholly different certainty of mere confidence or emotional conviction. Fortunately, these irrational factors can be tracked down and largely neutralized. Human’s major goods are at the foundation of their major needs, and since the basic needs of human nature are everywhere the same, the basic goods are also the same. No philosophy of life that denied value to the satisfactions of food or drink or the sex or friendship or knowledge could hope to commend itself in the long run. #RandolphHarris 8 of 9

Build faith in God and treat others how you want to be treated. The rest of your life will be the best of your life. Judgement of a wise person carries a weight out of all proportion to that of anything explicit in one’s thought or argument. The decisions of a wise judge many be implicitly freighted with experience and reflection, even though neither may be consciously employed in the case before one. Experience, even when forgotten beyond recall, leaves its deposit, and where this is the deposit of long trial and error, of much reflection, and of wide exposure in fact or imagination to the human lot, the judgment based on it may be more significant than any or all of the reasons that the judge could adduce for it. That is why age is credited with wisdom; years supply a means to it whether or not the means is consciously used. Again, the individual may similarly profit from the increasing age of the race; since knowledge is cumulative, one can stand on the shoulders of one’s predecessors. Whether individual wisdom is on the average increasing is debatable, but clearly the opportunity for it is. A philosopher whose wisdom is the highest rapture, remarked, “We are the true ancients.” #RandolphHarris 9 of 9