virtue,--is based upon two considerations of policy. I have explained
one of these considerations in my _Ethics_; the other is as
follows:--Politeness is a tacit agreement that people's miserable
defects, whether moral or intellectual, shall on either side be
ignored and not made the subject of reproach; and since these defects
are thus rendered somewhat less obtrusive, the result is mutually
advantageous.[1]
[Footnote 1: _Translator's Note_.--In the passage referred to
_(Grundlage der Moral_, collected works, Vol. IV., pp. 187 and 198),
Schopenhauer explains politeness as a conventional and systematic
attempt to mask the egoism of human nature in the small affairs of
life,--an egoism so repulsive that some such device is necessary for
the purpose of concealing its ugliness. The relation which politeness
bears to the true love of one's neighbor is analogous to that existing
between justice as an affair of legality, and justice as the real
integrity of the heart.]
It is a wise thing to be polite; consequently, it is a stupid thing
to be rude. To make enemies by unnecessary and willful incivility,
is just as insane a proceeding as to set your house on fire. For
politeness is like a counter--an avowedly false coin, with which it is
foolish to be stingy. A sensible man will be generous in the use
of it. It is customary in every country to end a letter with
the words:--_your most obedient servant_--_votre très-humble
serviteur_--_suo devotissimo servo_. (The Germans are the only people
who suppress the word _servant_--_Diener_--because, of course, it is
not true!) However, to carry politeness to such an extent as to damage
your prospects, is like giving money where only counters are expected.
Wax, a substance naturally hard and brittle, can be made soft by the
application of a little warmth, so that it will take any shape you
please. In the same way, by being polite and friendly, you can make
people pliable and obliging, even though they are apt to be crabbed
and malevolent. Hence politeness is to human nature what warmth is to
wax.
Of course, it is no easy matter to be polite; in so far, I mean, as it
requires us to show great respect for everybody, whereas most people
deserve none at all; and again in so far as it demands that we should
feign the most lively interest in people, when we must be very glad
that we have nothing to do with them. To combine politeness with pride
is a masterpiece of wisdom.
We should be much less ready to lose our temper over an
insult,--which, in the strict sense of the word, means that we have
not been treated with respect,--if, on the one hand, we have not such
an exaggerated estimate of our value and dignity--that is to say, if
we were not so immensely proud of ourselves; and, on the other hand,
if we had arrived at any clear notion of the judgment which, in his
heart, one man generally passes upon another. If most people resent
the slightest hint that any blame attaches to them, you may imagine
their feelings if they were to overhear what their acquaintance say
about them. You should never lose sight of the fact that ordinary
politeness is only a grinning mask: if it shifts its place a little,
or is removed for a moment, there is no use raising a hue and cry.
When a man is downright rude, it is as though he had taken off all his
clothes, and stood before you in _puris naturalibus_. Like most men in
this condition, he does not present a very attractive appearance.