Civility

Sometimes we live as if we have two categories of feelings toward others: we like them or we dislike them. If we adopt this stance, we are missing out on so much we could learn. “Liking” may be the least substantial opinion we can have. Liking is highly overrated. Civility, however, is not. Politeness, courtesy, respect, graciousness, consideration— those are just some of the synonyms and images of civility. As we imagine those with whom we come in contact in our neighborhoods, cities, organizations, and businesses, there is likely a wide array of affinity. Yet camaraderie need not deter­mine the level of civility we display. When we present attitudes and behaviors of civility, both in and out of school, we reap the benefits of knowing we are doing our best. We are behaving respectfully. Civility . . . is the set of sacrifices we make for the sake of our common journey with others, and out of love and respect for the very idea that there are others. When we are civil, we are not pretending to like those we actually despise; we are not pretending to hold any attitude toward them except that we accept and value them as every bit our equals . . . . The duty to love our neighbors . . . is not lessened because we happen to think our neighbor is wrong about a few things.