Good manners and other civilized behavior

Ever notice the linguistic connection between civil, civilized and civilization?
Those words form a progression that starts at the particular and moves to the general.
Somewhere along to way, the subject of good manners comes up. Although you can't judge a book by the cover, you can certainly tell a comic book from a textbook without opening either one.

Disclosure: This is a bait and switch post. I put together yesterday what I will immodestly call an excellent commentary on good manners and other subjects. I was tempted to keep it at the top of my blog by tinkering with the date/time signature, but I think that changes the permalink which I do not want to do. I want the link to remain viable for anyone good enough to return in the future.

Most of my links are short, quick and easy. This one, however, is not. If you want to drill into all the references it will take some time to cover. And if you want to internalize what it says, it may take some readers the remainder of their natural life.

But I had to say it. I'm glad I did. And you are invited to go read it if you have the time.