manners and mimicing quote – 2

“A parent may believe that a child learns to use a napkin, knife and fork merely because he is told that if he doesn’t use them properly, he will be spanked. By test, this inhibits the natural learning, putting an artificial command under the natural ability to mimic. The common result of this is to cause the child to revolt. If the child is permitted to observe, without coaching or coaxing, adults eating with knives and forks and using napkins, the child, unless badly aberrated, will, by test, struggle and fumble to mimic. And it will come up at last with manners, better manners than those forced upon it, providing the parents themselves know how to use table silver and napkins properly.” — L. Ron Hubbard