Quotes About Etiquette

A gentleman would have announced himself!" I told him, pressing against the side of the tub. "And a scoundrel would have joined you." -- Kit Marlowe to the witch Gillian (shortly before joining her in the tub!)

Pemphredo had been about to crawl off, but at that she came back and settled down, brushing off her filthy shorts. Deino crossed her legs. Enyo stopped picking at her fingernails with a knife and put it politely away. I kind of felt like I should be serving tea.

That didn't reassure me much; Alphonse's idea of good manners consisted of remembering to bury all the bodies.

All phone calls are obscene.

And she knows how to come into a home and not step on the toes of a ghost.

Arriving late was a way of saying that your own time was more valuable than the time of the person who waited for you.

Flirtation doesn't have to go somewhere; it certainly doesn't need to end up in bed. I like to think of it as a little friendlier than a handshake, a little less intimate than a kiss. It's a way of saying hi, you look great, have a wonderful day. A tasteful flirtation, played out people who understand the rules, leave everyone feeling good and can perk up the bluest mood.

I think dating courtesies are common courtesies that should be practiced in most all civilized encounters. I pine for the days of good, old-fashioned manners.

We call them taxis where I come from. And bookstores." God, he was stuffy. "We call them manners where I come from, Ms. Lane. Have you any?

Etiquette was so confounding in this country. Still, looking at Mirabella-her fists balled together like small, white porcupines, her brows knitted in animal confusion-I felt a throb of compassion. How can people live like they do? I wondered. Then I congragulated myself. This was a Stage 3 thought.

This is not LA, people. We shine instead of sparkle, we smile and bless their hearts instead of giving the finger. Like my mama taught me about wearing jewelry: Put on everything you want to wear, and then take one thing off.

En trouwens, alleen al hoe ze elkaar begroetten! Ze pakten elkaars handen vast. Is dat normaal? Het moet onhygiënisch zijn en bovendien zo intiem dat het beschamend is. Ekaars lichamen zo aan te raken, opzettelijk! Ze beweerden dat het een heel oude begroeting was, die ze nieuw leven hadden ingeblazen, maar je hoefde het niet te doen als je niet wilde, je werd nergens toe gedwongen.

It's unfortunate in that it's only a step away from mere name-calling,

Genuinely skillful use of obscenities is uniformly absent on the Internet.

What torture, this life in society! Often someone is obliging enough to offer me a light, and in order to oblige him I have to fish a cigarette out of my pocket.

Call opened the door before she had time to knock. "You're only five minutes late," he said lightly. "For a woman, I consider that right on time." "Actually, for a woman, it's fifteen minutes early." He chuckled. "Come on in.

when the English say 'Oh really? How interesting!' they might well mean 'I don't believe a word of it, you lying toad'. Or they might not. They might just mean 'I'm bored and not really listening but trying to be polite'. Or they might be genuinely surprised and truly interested. You'll never know.

When the priest says 'Lord, have mercy upon us', you do not respond 'Well, actually, why should he?' You intone dutifully, 'Christ, have mercy upon us.' In the same way, it would be very rude to respond to 'Ooh, isn't it cold?' with 'No, actually, it's quite mild.

People who insist on calculating in detail exactly who had what when it comes to dividing up the bill are despised, not just because they are miserly, but because such discussions involve a prolonged breach of the money-talk taboo.

There's money, and then there's class. The two are often separated.

There's money, and then there's class.

Sybil even criticized Elizabeth's housekeeping, condemning her further as a woman who could not properly perform the role society expected. Of one impromptu supper party, Sybil recalled censoriously, "She was out of bread and had to make biscuit for dinner.

I think you're extremely rude! And you're doing it on purpose!" "Of course. One should never be rude except on purpose." …"Why?" …"Because one should never appear to anything without intent. It's the secret of poise.

I highly recommend cleanliness. It pleases women and annoys men, which are two excellent ways to get on in society.