"Not many books get more interesting as they age, but it does happen sometimes."

"These are the moments when we need guidance—and by implication, books of etiquette—the most. Call them rites of passage or whatever you will, certain events in our life catch us unawares and unprepared. If we live in a healthy society, there is some accumulated wisdom to fall back on, and it guides us when our own efforts fall short.

"I once felt that etiquette was just a tool to impose class distinctions. And maybe it is (although certainly less nowadays than in my mother’s day)—but it’s also something else. Or at least can be. Etiquette fills the gap for us when we are at a loss, when our familiar day-to-day ways offer no help. We need that, especially in our most vulnerable moments. The ‘rules of the game’ are like the steps of a ritual. And the older I get, the more I grasp how significant our rituals are. And how much we lose when they disappear." - Ted Goia

Article: What I Learned from Emily Post's 'Etiquette' (1922)