Bringing Courtesy Back

I read this quote this week:

“Courtesy is a science of the highest importance. It is, like grace and beauty in the body, which charm at first sight, and lead on to further intimacy and friendship, opening a door that we may derive instruction from the example of others, and at the same time enabling us to benefit them by our example, if there be anything in our character worthy of imitation.”

- Michel de Montaigne (1533 –1592) influential French Renaissance writer, generally considered to be the inventor of the personal essay, Essais Book 1

It really struck me that we need a lot more conscious courtesy today – somewhere we have lost that and it is up to each of us to figure out how to bring the practice of courtesy back.