When Catherine the Great of Russia was told that the peasants were revolting, she said, ""Yes, aren't they?" Which was around the time when Adolph Freiherr von Knigge wrote "Über den Umgang mit Menschen" (On Human Relations).
To this day the word "Knigge" is synonymous with "good manners" and Knigge's 450-page book is still the go-to guide in Germany on etiquette. There is even a German Knigge Gesellschaft e.V. and Knigge Akademie.
I already knew about Knigge when I was only knee-high to a grasshopper and to this day remember most of the rules even though I don't follow them. In fact, I find John O'Grady's "Aussie Etiket - Doing Things the Aussie Way" a lot easier to follow, as explained in its 'Introduction':
Mind you, I still find it quite satisfying to say to some people "It's not Knigge, you know" instead of "Get outa here you bloody old bastard".
