Do manners make a man?

"Manners maketh man", they say.

This well known expression is said to have been coined sometime around the 15th or 16th century by a headmaster of a well-known school in England.

It is often taken to mean that good manners distinguish human beings from animals.

The notion that a person's manners make him man, or woman as the case may be, simply because animals are not capable of such a thing called "manners", led me to ask myself another question, a provoking one:

If good manners make us human, what do bad manners make?

That is, if a person of good manners clearly distinguishes himself from "mannerless" beasts, what about a person of ill-manners? Is that person still human?

In other words, can we point to a rude, uncouth, foul-mouth, ill-mannered person and say,

"Behold, a man, who is clearly not a beast!"

Or should we instead point to a mannerless animal and utter,

"Behold, an animal who is not ill-mannered at all"

I write this today after having recently pondered over a few encounters with some rude, some vulgar and some hostile people, and sadly, some of whom used to be my friends.

One insulted me badly by throwing almost every expletive he could find under the sun at me over a simple disagreement. Another made a maliciously false and slanderous remark at me when I complained, politely, about not being told of an event that I would have liked to take part in.

There was also a friend with whom I have worked together in a group for more than two years, who lashed out with a much hatred and anger at a couple of our group members for merely suggesting that he should stop doing some things that are unhelpful to others.

Of course, I have had my share of impolite colleagues who ignored my "Good morning" and refused to acknowledge my "Thank you" on some occasions. I have also lost count of the rude and and inconsiderate drivers on the road, who cut me off in highly dangerous situations almost causing me to meet with accidents. And the irritating "hand-phone" guy ahead of me at the intersection, who is oblivious of the traffic-lights turning green, causing me to wait for the lights to change another full cycle.

"Such ill-manners, such inconsiderate behaviour, such abusive and unpleasant words, . . . such beasts", I thought to myself.

It makes me realise that "Ill-manners degrade man", that a man of poor manners is worse than a mannerless animal, for as much as an animal by nature knows not how to behave politely nor courteously, the very same animals also know not how to behave rudely nor discourteously.

Animals, by virtue of their inability to use language, do not insult, neither do they slander nor do they curse, nor hurl malicious accusations at others.

Animals have no manners: neither good nor bad.

When man loses his good manners, he has lost to an animal. An ill-mannered man is no longer man, he is not even beast. He has descended to a place lower than the animal kingdom.