Quotes About Etiquette

We French people sometimes appear rude but are not really intending to be rude. It is because…" He shrugged. "Perhaps it's something to do with our language. French may sound a bit arrogant sometimes. As if it's God talking, perhaps. You know how God talks. French suits him very well, I think." Annabelle laughed. "The English used to say that God spoke English. But we knew he spoke French all along.

Never be put off by rudeness, Mma," she whispered. "It is the rude person who is rude, not you.

And if you do see any pirates, I don't want you to pick up any rough manners from them. Do you understand?

Martha simply did not know that virtually everything she said was inappropriate, and so there was no point in remonstrating with her.

And then there was the delicate issue of what to do with one's bottom while one was walking. Some people thought that one could just leave one's bottom to follow one when one was walking. Not so. A mere glance at any glamorous girl would show that the bottom had to be more involved.

What I said to you was private. We can have private reservations about a person's work, but that doesn't mean to say that we have to spell those out to him. It's called tact, Isabel!

telephoned Jamie the next morning at the earliest decent hour; nine o'clock, in her view. Isabel observed an etiquette of the telephone: a call before eight in the morning was an emergency; between eight and nine it was an intrusion; thereafter calls could be made until ten in the evening, although anything after nine-thirty required an apology for the disturbance. After ten one was into emergency time again.

Why are there fewer and fewer gentlemen?' 'It is our fault...it is the fault of the ladies. ... Because we have allowed men to stop behaving as gentlemen, and when you allow people to do what they wish, then that is what they do. They stop doing the things they need to do. ... That is well-known, I think, Mma.

You are very amiable, no doubt, but you would be charming if you would only depart.

I'm sure you're very nice, but you'd be even nicer if you went away.

Punctuality is the politness of kings p.154

I know the world is a drawing-room, from which we must retire politely and honestly; that is, with a bow, and our debts of honor paid.

Women and doors - did I not tell you, friend Porthos, that they are always to be managed by gentleness? - D'Artagnan

I never swear, Monseigneur. I say Yes or No, and as I am a gentleman, I keep my word.

Here's a bit of advice... When a woman invites you into her home... and you don't seduce her... don't seduce another woman, darling, certainly not under the same roof. It's bad manners - ungallant to say the least,

A young man who had watched her eating with her fingers offered a set of chopsticks- those sticks for eating that had become so popular. He looked at her suggestively. Instead of blushing, she accepted the chopsticks boldly and continued to walk on, using them to eat noodle and vegetable dishes.

conversation opener with attractive strangers or horrifying shirt-tail relatives. (First, though, be completely clear in your mind about the boundary between scientific anatomy and physiology on the one hand and personal clinical details on the other.) Choose the specific topic carefully to be sure of having your intended effect. For example, telling a young boy that he has the same density of hair

Mother of the groom. Wear beige and shut up.

You're going to worship the Lord? Dress for the occasion, please. And brush your hair. Anyway, no one had asked me to establish a Sunday-morning dress code for all the Christians of the world, so I'd just keep that nugget to myself.

good manners are the moisturizer of life.

Please. Don't use the Lord's name, unless you're in prayer. It's a hundred years in purgatory.

DO take the initiative and introduce yourself to the people you don't know. DO say your first and last names: "Hello, I'm Heather Wells." This saves the other person from asking, "What's your last name?" DO be inclusive and greet the people you know, even if you saw them just hours earlier.

The word 'tip' comes from the mid-eighteenth-century innkeepers' sign 'to insure promptness.' Patrons deposited a few coins on the table before ordering a meal or drinks and were served faster.

In nothing do we lay ourselves so open as in our manner of meeting and salutation. —JOHANN KASPAR LAVATER