Quotes about Etiquette

It was amusement enough to be with a group of fearless and talkative girls, who said new things in a new language, who were ignorant of tradition and unimpressed by distinctions of rank; but it was soon clear that their young hostesses must be treated with the same respect, if not with the same ceremony as English girls of good family.

Mrs. Fairford smiled. "I've sometimes thought," she mused, "that Mr. Popple must be the only gentleman I know; at least he's the only man who has ever told me he was a gentleman—and Mr. Popple never fails to mention it.

It was the old New York way, of taking life 'without effusion of blood''; the way of people who dreaded scandal more than disease, who placed decency about courage, and who considered that nothing was more ill-bred than 'scenes,' except the behavior of those who gave rise to them.

Growing up in England, of course you do absorb certain ways the royals wave their hands and carry themselves.

Frankness is not a license to say anything you want, wherever and whenever you want. It is not rudeness.

The first glass is for myself, the second for my friends, the third for good humor, and the forth for my enemies.

Queen Victoria complained that Gladstone talked to her as if he were addressing a public meeting. She preferred Disraeli, who talked to her like a human being. When you write copy, follow Disraeli's example.

You think that the heads of state only have serious conversations, but they actually often begin really with the weather or, 'I really like your tie.'

Be polite to all, but intimate with few.

Never speak to an invalid from behind, nor from the door, nor from any distance from him, nor when he is doing anything. The official politeness of servants in these things is so grateful to invalids, that many prefer, without knowing why, having none but servants about them.

Being politically correct means saying what's polite rather than what's accurate. I like to be accurate.

I cannot call to mind a single instance where I have ever been irreverent, except toward the things which were sacred to other people.