I truly believe that anyone can improve his or her manners by doing three things. First, by practicing courtesy. All skills require constant repetition to become second nature; good manners are no exception. The second requirement for improving your manners is to think in a courteous way. In the long run, the kind of person you are is the result of what you’ve been thinking over the past twenty or thirty years. If your thoughts are predominantly self-directed, a discourteous person ,is what you will be. If on the other hand you train yourself to be considerate of others, if you can acquire the habit of identifying with their problems and hopes and fears, good manners will follow almost automatically. Nowhere is the courtesy more important than in marriage. In the intimacy of the home it is easy to displace disappointment or frustration or anger onto the nearest person, and that person is often a husband or wife. Finally, to have good manners you must be able to accept courtesy, receive it gladly, rejoice when it comes your way. Strangely, some people are suspicious of gracious treatment. They suspect the other person of having some ulterior motive.