One day a tall gentleman was hastening down the sidewalk when just then out of a doorway came another man, also in a hurry. The two men collided with great impact. The tall man fell to the sidewalk.

The shorter one of them was beside himself with anger and burst into a cascade of abusive anger.

The tall noble man shook the dirt off his clothes, smiled in a pleasant fashion, and with a smile announced: “My friend, I don’t know which of us was at fault for this encounter, but I am in too great of a hurry to investigate. If I ran into you, I beg your pardon; if you ran into me, don’t mention it.” And then with a smile on his face he went his way.

“Life is not so short but that there is always time for courtesy.” Ralph Waldo Emerson.

“Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances.” Thomas Jefferson.

Perhaps the tall, noble man was Thomas Jefferson!