He took a piece of bread and used it as a sop, and then, impaling the gravy-soaked bread on his fork, he conveyed it to his mouth with gusto and relish.

My "genteel" friend commented upon it afterwards as "disgusting," and lost all interest in the man and his work as a consequence.
To my mind, the criticism was that of a fool.
John Muir, the eminent poet-naturalist of the _Mountains of California_, had a habit at the table of "crumming" his bread--that is, toying with it, until it crumbled to pieces in his hand.

He would, at the same time, be sending out a steady stream of the most entertaining, interesting, fascinating, and instructive lore about birds and beasts, trees and flowers, glaciers and rocks, that one ever listened to.

In his mental occupancy, he knew not whether he was eating his soup with a fork or an ice-cream spoon--and cares less.
Neither did any one else with brains and an awakened mind that soared above mere conventional manners.

And yet I once had an Eastern woman of great wealth, (recently acquired), and of great pretensions to social "manners," at whose table Muir had eaten, inform me that she regarded him as a rude boor, because, forsooth, he was unmindful of these trivial and unimportant conventions when engaged in conversation.
Now, neither Wagner nor Muir would justify any advocacy on my part of neglect of true consideration, courtesy, or good manners.