Fine manners are a stronger bond than a beautiful face. The former binds; the latter only attracts.
—Alphonse de Lamartine (1790–1869) French Poet, Politician, Historian
Good manners, which give color to life, are of greater importance than laws, which are but one of their manifestations. The law touches us here and there, but manners are about us everywhere.
—Samuel Smiles (1812–1904) British Author, Reformer
The test of a man or woman’s breeding is how they behave in a quarrel.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
A mission could be defined as an image of a desired state that you want to get to. Once fully seen, it will inspire you to act, fuel your imagination and determine your behavior.
—Charles A. Garfield (b.1944) American Psychologist
A well bred man is always sociable and complaisant.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
Better were it to be unborn than to be ill bred.
—Walter Raleigh (1552–1618) English Courtier, Navigator, Poet
Children are natural mimics who act like their parents despite every effort to teach them good manners.
—Unknown
A man’s own good-breeding is the best security against other people’s ill-manners. It carries along with it a dignity that is respected by the most petulant. Ill-breeding invites and authorizes the familiarity of the most timid. No man ever said a pert thing to the Duke of Marlborough. No man ever said a civil one to Sir Robert Walpole.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
Manners require time, and nothing is more vulgar than haste.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
To be a successful hostess, when guest arrive say, “At last!” and when they leave say, “So soon!”
—Unknown
Says the rude child: “No, I won’t do it”. Says the courteous grown-up: “Yes, I won’t do it”.
—Mignon McLaughlin (1913–83) American Journalist, Author
Manners must adorn knowledge and smooth its way in the world; without them it is like a great rough diamond, very well in a closet by way of curiosity, and also for its intrinsic value; but most prized when polished.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
Act the way you’d like to be and soon you’ll be the way you act.
—George W. Crane (1901–95) American Psychologist, Physician, Columnist
Behave so the aroma of your actions may enhance the general sweetness of the atmosphere.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
Whom one wants to change manners and customs, one should not do so by changing the laws.
—Montesquieu (1689–1755) French Political Philosopher, Jurist
Teach your child to hold his tongue; he’ll learn fast enough to speak.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
How majestic is naturalness. I have never met a man whom I really considered a great man who was not always natural and simple. Affectation is inevitably the mark of one not sure of himself.
—Charles G. Dawes (1865–1951) American Diplomat, Politician
Is man a savage at heart, skinned o’er with fragile Manners? Or is savagery but a faint taint in the natural man’s gentility, which erupts now and again like pimples on an angel’s arse?
—John Barth (1930–2024) American Novelist, Postmodernist Professor
You never want to give a man a present when he’s feeling good. You want to do it when he’s down.
—Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–73) American Head of State, Political leader
There is a deportment which suits the figure and talents of each person; it is always lost when we quit it to assume that of another.
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78) Swiss-born French Philosopher
Politeness is the flower of humanity.
—Joseph Joubert (1754–1824) French Writer, Moralist
Manners are not idle, but the fruit. Of loyal nature and of noble mind.
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–92) British Poet
Coolness, and absence of heat and haste, indicate fine qualities. A gentleman makes no noise; a lady is serene.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
I could better eat with one who did not respect the truth or the laws, than with a sloven and unpresentable person. Moral qualities rule the world, but at short distances the senses are despotic.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
It’s no use growing older if you only learn new ways of misbehaving yourself.
—Saki (Hector Hugh Munro) (1870–1916) British Short Story Writer, Satirist, Historian
Courtesy should be a continuous action, not something to be turned on and off like a faucet.
—Unknown
Manners are the happy ways of doing things; each once a stroke of genius or of love—now repeated and hardened into usage. They form at last a rich varnish, with which the routine of life is washed, and its details adorned. If they are superficial, so are the dew-drops which give such a depth to the morning meadows.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Whoever one is, and wherever one is, one is always in the wrong if one is rude.
—Maurice Baring (1874–1946) English Author, Journalist
Good manners are a combination of intelligence, education, taste and style mixed together so that you don’t need any of those things.
—P. J. O’Rourke (1947–2022) American Journalist, Political Satirist
Always behave as if nothing had happened no matter what has happened.
—Arnold Bennett (1867–1931) British Novelist, Playwright, Critic
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