Man has to live in a society. So, he must know good manners and how to behave with others. How should he behave? He should have respect for the views of others. He must respect his elders. He must be gentle and polite. His reply should always be sweet. Truth, no doubt, is not always sweet. But even a bitter truth can be made sweet by the use of sweet words. Who can like the sharpness of a clever tongue? So nobody can like you if you lack good manners.
But there are people who know the gentle art of making enemies. They don’t know good manners and are very rough in their behaviour. They even abuse others without any reason. In recent times, students cat-call their teachers and do not hesitate to even smoke in their presence. They vex simple boys and tease girl students. All this shows that they lack culture and discipline. The result is that such students are hated everywhere.
So, it is necessary to learn good manners early in life. A good home is the best school for training in good manners. A good society, too, helps you learn manners. But good manners should not be learned like a parrot. You must be natural in your behaviour. Only a ‘thank you’ with a smile will not do. Good manners are moral qualities. They should spring from your heart. Only a show of good manners is like a snake under grass or like sweet poison. It is bad to have honey on the tongue and poison in the heart. So, you should really be sweet, not only appear to be sweet.