It is possible to have good manners and be funny at the same time. Ronnie Barker and I proved that.

Don't keep your good manners to the end another time, but begin with them.

Don't misunderstand good manners for passivity.

Good manners are appreciated as much as bad manners are abhorred.

Then [good manners] must be inspired by the good heart. There is no beautifier of complexion, or form, or behavior, like the wish to scatter joy and not pain around us.

It used to be just CIA agents with ear-pieces who walked round with preoccupied, faraway expressions, and consequently regarded all the little people as irrelevant scum. Now, understandably, it's nearly everybody.