Judith Martin Quotes - Page 6

Meanwhile, the empty forms of social behavior survive inappropriately in business situations. We all know that when a business sends its customers 'friendly reminders,' it really means business.

A young lady is a female child who has just done something dreadful.

Most people who work at home find they do not have the benefit of receptionists who serve as personal guards

You do not have to do everything disagreeable that you have a right to do

The rationale that etiquette should be eschewed because it fosters inequality does not ring true in a society that openly admits to a feverish interest in the comparative status-conveying qualities of sneakers. Manners are available to all, for free.

One reason that the task of inventing manners is so difficult is that etiquette is folk custom, and people have emotional ties to the forms of their youth. That is why there is such hostility between generations in times of rapid change; their manners being different, each feels affronted by the other, taking even the most surface choices for challenges.

She only maintains that it is possible, under some circumstances, for a lady to murder her husband; but that a woman who wears ankle-strap shoes and smokes on the street corner, though she may be a joy to all who know her and have devoted her life to charity, could never qualify as a lady.

The dinner table is the center for the teaching and practicing not just of table manners but of conversation, consideration, tolerance, family feeling, and just about all the other accomplishments of polite society except the minuet.

Parents should conduct their arguments in quiet, respectful tones, but in a foreign language. You'd be surprised what an inducement that is to the education of children.

Chaperons, even in their days of glory, were almost never able to enforce morality; what they did was to force immorality to be discreet. This is no small contribution.

The stress of making small talk with in-laws is called being part of a family.

many of the guests will eventually leave the table to watch football on television, which would be a rudeness at any other occasion but is a relief at Thanksgiving and probably the only way to get those people to budge.

A small wedding is not necessarily one to which very few people are invited. It is one to which the person you are addressing is not invited.

Question- Should I loan a small amount of money to a friend? Answer- If you are sure that you can, if necessary, spare both.

When politeness is used to show up other people, it is reclassified as rudeness. Thus it is technically impossible to be too polite.

Nowadays, you form your beliefs to fit your behavior, not the other way around.

Miss Manners herself, while never rude, is given to pulling a fast pinch in the way of a handshake on those who believe in kissing on, not even the first date, but the first sighting.

Charming villains have always had a decided social advantage over well-meaning people who chew with their mouths open.

Many people mistakenly think a new technology cancels out an old one.