"A true politeness does not result from..." - Quote by Henry David Thoreau
A true politeness does not result from any hasty and artificial polishing, it is true, but grows naturally in characters of the right grain and quality, through a long fronting of men and events, and rubbing on good and bad fortune.
More by Henry David Thoreau
“All endeavour calls for the ability to tramp the last mile, shape the last plan, endure the last hours toil.”
“The stars are the apexes of what wonderful triangles! What distant and different beings in the various mansions of the universe are contemplating the same one at the same moment!”
“Voting for the right is doing nothing for it.”
More on Politeness
“Politeness [is] a sign of dignity, not subservience.”
“Be polite to all, but intimate with few.”
“In truth, politeness is artificial good humor, it covers the natural want of it, and ends by rendering habitual a substitute nearly equivalent to the real virtue. It is the practice of sacrificing to those whom we meet in society, all the little inconveniences and preferences which will gratify them, and deprive us of nothing worth a moment's consideration; it is the giving a pleasing and flattering turn to our expressions, which will conciliate others, and make them pleased with us as well as themselves. How cheap a price for the good will of another!”