Knowing when and where to sit is something every young executive should learn. A junior person who comes barging into a room and takes any seat he wants catches the disapproving eye of senior management.

For every rude executive who makes it to the top, there are nine successful executives with good manners.

What the bride should do is call guests who have young children and say: 'I'd love to have the kids at the wedding, but we won't have room. Would you get a baby sitter, and when we get back from our honeymoon, we'll have you guys over?'

I'm for anything that teaches consideration and kindness. If one can teach one's son to dance with the ugliest little girl in the room, that's the best lesson they can ever learn.

Politeness decrees that you must listen to be kind; intelligence decrees that you must listen to learn.

For every step forward in electronic communications, we've taken two steps back in humanity. People know how to use a computer and answering machines but have forgotten how to connect with one another. Our society is unraveling. We're too self-obsessed.