according
to his ignorance on the subject of another's expertness. Etiquette, in
reverse, prescribes this necessity for complete knowledge in every contact
in life. Through knowledge alone, does one prove one's right to authority.
For instance:

A man in a machine ship is working at a lathe. An officer of the company
comes into the shop, a gentleman in white collar and good clothes! He
stands behind the mechanic and "curses him out" because his work is
inefficient. When he turns away, the man at the lathe says, "Who was that
guy anyway? What business has he to teach me my job?" Instead of accepting
the criticism, he resents what he considers unwarranted interference by a
man in another "class."

But supposing instead of standing by and talking about inefficiency, the
"gentleman" had said, "Get out of there a moment!" and throwing off his
coat and rolling up his silk shirt sleeves, he had operated the lathe with
a smoothness and rapidity that could only have been acquired through long
experience at a bench. The result would be that the next time he came on a
tour of inspection that particular man (as well as all those who were
witnesses of the former scene) would not only listen to him with respect
but without resentment of his "class," because his expertness proved that
he had earned his right to good clothes and silk shirts, and to tell those
beneath him how work should be done.

The same test applies to any branch of experience: a man who knows as much
about any "specialty" as an expert does himself, makes the "expert" think
at once, "This man is a wonder!" The very fact that the first man is not
making the subject _his_ specialty, intensifies the achievement.
Everything he says after that on subjects of which the second man knows
nothing is accepted without question. Whenever you know as much as the
other man, whether you are socially above, or below him, you are on that
subject his equal; when you know more than he does, you have the
advantage.

=THE SELF-MADE MAN AND WORLD-MADE MANNERS=

It is not in order to shine in society that grace of manner is an asset;
comparatively few people in a community care a rap about "society" anyway!
A man of affairs whose life is spent in doing a man's work in a man's way
is not apt to be thrilled at the thought of putting on "glad" clothes and
going out with his wife to a "pink" tea or a ball.

But what many successful men do not realize is that a fundamental
knowledge o