It is a good rule in life never to apologize. The right sort of people do not want apologies, and the wrong sort take a mean advantage of them.

In Wodehouse’s comic world, social life is governed less by moral gravity than by etiquette, pride, and the tactical management of embarrassment. The line treats apology not as a virtue but as a social miscalculation: decent, well-bred people will overlook minor offenses without demanding contrition, while petty or manipulative people will use an apology as leverage—proof of guilt, an invitation to scold, or a chance to extract concessions. The humor comes from the aphoristic certainty (“a good rule in life”) applied to a dubious principle, exposing how apologies can function as currency in status games rather than as sincere repair.