Thrown Under the Omnibus: A Reader

for any man of culture to accept the standard of his age is a form of the grossest immorality."

It is a wise thing to be polite; consequently, it is a stupid thing to be rude. To make enemies by unnecessary and willful incivility, is just as insane a proceeding as to set your house on fire. For politeness is like a counter--an avowedly false coin, with which it is foolish to be stingy. A sensible man will be generous in the use of it.

Edwards, then, there was a significant moral structure for rudeness that was bound to divine action. Rudeness was not being a blockage to someone’s expressive identity but instead a sign that rot had entered the soul (to change the metaphor).