Politeness and civility are the best capital ever invested in business.
Large stores, gilt signs, flaming advertisements, will all prove
unavailing if you or your employees treat your patrons abruptly. The
truth is, the more kind and liberal a man is, the more generous will be
the patronage bestowed upon him. "Like begets like." The man who gives
the greatest amount of goods of a corresponding quality for the least
sum (still reserving for himself a profit) will generally succeed best
in the long run. This brings us to the golden rule, "As ye would that
men should do to you, do ye also to them" and they will do better by you
than if you always treated them as if you wanted to get the most you
could out of them for the least return. Men who drive sharp bargains
with their customers, acting as if they never expected to see them
again, will not be mistaken. They will never see them again as
customers. People don't like to pay and get kicked also.

One of the ushers in my Museum once told me he intended to whip a man
who was in the lecture-room as soon as he came out.

"What for?" I inquired.

"Because he said I was no gentleman," replied the usher.

"Never mind," I replied, "he pays for that, and you will not convince
him you are a gentleman by whipping him. I cannot afford to lose a
customer. If you whip him, he will never visit the Museum again, and he
will induce friends to go with him to other places of amusement instead
of this, and thus you see, I should be a serious loser."

"But he insulted me," muttered the usher.