Quotes About Civility

What's so civil about war anyway?

Though I normally approve of plain speaking, as you know, I would suggest that as part of your good behavior, you refer to the king as 'his grace' or even simply 'the king' instead of 'that creature,' by the way.

The crime rates would go right down, I think, if Americans stopped saying: 'Have a nice day,' to one another. At least it would stop me from contemplating violence; when people in shops & so on order me to have a nice day in this authoritarian way, I want to kill, kill, kill. When I mutter 'sod off' under my breath, they think it is a Russian Orthodox benediction.

At least, you two have decent manners," says Effie as we're finishing the main course. "The pair last year ate everything with their hands like a couple of savages. It completely upset my digestion." The pair last year were two kids from the Seam who'd never, not one day of their lives, had enough to eat.

The Athenians are right to accept advice from anyone, since it is incumbent on everyone to share in that sort of excellence, or else there can be no city at all.

You've gotta be very careful that grace and politeness do not merge into a banality of behavior, where we're just nice, sort of 'death by cupcake.'

The only true source of politeness is consideration.

There is so much we'll likely never agree on, but can we at least agree to be respectful and kind to each other anyway.

politeness without warmth

Why do people show up—if not out of decency, and tradition?

At the end of the day, Mitt Romney and Ann Romney are two fine people.

When I'm debating others, whether it's Eleanor Clift or Bob Beckel, you're still in a fierce debate mode, but you're also on best behavior.

When you're going into an employment environment that looks pretty scary, it is easy to lose your moral compass, your decency, your sense of civility and your sense of community.

I would attend a State of the Union by a president with whom I disagree if I felt she or he was otherwise respectful and adhered to basic moral values or basic tenets of civility and respect.

I believe that treating other people well is a lost art.

I don't know if people have gotten ruder or if my tolerance level has declined.

As was usual in Tilling, the presence of the Wyses curbed the tongued and improved the manner of those around them...A silence generally fell on the company after Mr. Wyse had finished speaking, his language was so fine, so Augustan that it seemed a pity to defile its memory with effusions in the sugar tongue.

The absence of trust is clearly inimical to a well-run society. The great Jane Jacobs noted as much with respect to the very practical business of urban life and the maintenance of cleanliness and civility on city streets. If we don't trust each other, our towns will look horrible and be nasty places to live. Moreover, she observed, you cannot institutionalize trust. Once corroded, it is virtually impossible to restore.

Money doesn't buy class.

The matrimony of morality and laws is the ark of Western civilization. What we are witnessing is the tragic divorce of civility and humanity that results from discord between the two.

Pinchando insectos, sosteníamos al orden civil, defendíamos las leyes y las costumbres. No era crueldad: era civilidad.

Eye contact is what keeps us civilized.

I want a kinder, gentler nation.

The notion of political correctness . declares certain topics. certain expressions . even certain gestures off-limits. What began as a crusade for civility has soured into a cause of conflict and even censorship.