In comparison to courage, or love, or compassion, courtesy seems close to trivial. In some ways, courtesy is indeed quite small. This quality of seeming cosmically insignificant may actually make courtesy one of the most important of the virtues; it introduces us into the small way, the way of little things rather than large, high, and lofty imaginations.
Courtesy adds an extremely important tone to the whole circle of virtue; it keeps our imagination from soaring into heights that have nothing to do with our daily lives, or our ongoing relationships with others, or the mundane events that, in truth, occupy us most of the time. Courtesy is the virtue that removes the illusion of loftiness that can infect our imagination of the virtues and locates their action in the heart of the smallest deeds of our lives.
— Robert Sardello, The Power of Soul