“Learning how to respond appropriately is a civilizing process. It involves controlling your emotions, especially those that tend toward violence. It also involves learning delayed gratification, self-discipline, and moderation. Finally, it requires learning to respect sincerely and—when appropriate—to obey authority. Manners that express these lessons communicate character, and a lack of manners signals not only a current lack of dignity but also a future lack of upward mobility.
Most of the mannerless anti-authority rhetoric of immature adolescents and the lazy burn-it-all-down mentality of their adult counterparts can be dismissed with one question: “What would you do instead?” Few things in this world are easier than criticizing long-standing institutions in which you are unqualified to participate. Ineligible commentators have the luxury of abstract theory, never having to face the far more difficult world of practice. Tearing things down is easy; building things up is hard. Good fathers save their sons from wasting precious time and energy by passing on that truth early—well before they leave home.”
– The Gift of Violence, page 199