Tea at Trianon: Saying "Thank you" is beneficial...

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, April 13, 2007

Saying "Thank you" is beneficial...

...in more ways than one. Businesses are beginning to realize that small courtesies make for happier and more productive employees. Unfortunately, some people misperceive kindness and politeness as either condescension or obsequiousness, but that is because they do not know any better. One should be kind because it is the right thing to do, not necessarily because of the consequences. Share

4 comments:

Anonymous said...: One more reason to love the Irish. I was struck by their West's consistent "Thank you" (along with a look in the eye and a smile) upon being handed money in payment for a service or carvery or brewed delights. And here, there is a long-transplanted native Belfaster who just before crushing my hand in a Sign of Peace says most sincerely, "Thank you." It's like living in a foreign world. A nice one. Commerce is as commerce does from morning 'til night, but its stray "thank you" now and again manages to better acknowledge a person as a person worth acknowledging. The smallest niceties are greatly heartening.

Carol; April 13, 2007 at 1:17:00 PM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: Yes, Carol, I completely agree.; April 13, 2007 at 2:09:00 PM EDT
Terry Nelson said...: Nicely put. See, this is why I love your blog.
Thank you.; April 13, 2007 at 3:11:00 PM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: You're welcome, Terry. I love your blog, too.; April 13, 2007 at 3:17:00 PM EDT