Alexander McCall Smith Quotes
Manners are the basic building blocks of civil society.
There was a social custom amongst the wealthy women of early American society where if they were moving to a new town, they would present their cards to the established female residents, who would then visit the newcomer at her home. Dolley Madison, anxious to bring some social civilization to Washington, still a rough swamp area, went out of her way to visit all comers and the Cabinet (Department) wives then did the same. However, as the government and Washington grew, this became more and more difficult, and subsequent first ladies wanted more of their privacy and time devoted to family. As America grew in importance, more counties sent ambassadors to Washington, and their wives all expected to be visited and invited. See {620648} for more on the “obligations” of a first lady and cabinet wives.
Alexander "Sandy" McCall Smith, CBE, FRSE, is a British-Zimbabwean writer and Emeritus Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. He became a respected expert on medical law and bioethics and served on British and international committees concerned with them. He has since become known as a writer of fiction, with sales of English-language versions exceeding 40 million by 2010 and translations into 46 languages. He is widely known as the creator of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. "McCall" forms part of his surname.
