“For the first time in many years I was in Germany that summer, and on arriving in Berlin I was much struck by the wonderful look of municipal order and prosperity which partly makes up for the horrors of its architecture and sculpture. But what struck me still more was the extraordinary politeness of all the people who are often rude in other countries: post-office and railway officials, customs officials, policemen, telephone-girls, and the other natural enemies of mankind.”

(Edith Wharton, French Ways and Their Meaning, p.11.)