Social Etiquette Quotes

“There is one topic peremptorily forbidden to all well-bred, to all rational mortals, namely, their distempers.”

“You should always go to other people's funerals, otherwise, they won't come to yours.”

“If you are with the quality, or at a funeral, or trying to go to sleep when you ain't sleepy - if you are anywheres where it won't do for you to scratch, why you will itch all over in upwards of a thousand places.”

“A sincere compliment is always grateful to a lady, so long as you don't try to knock her down with it.”

“Good breeding consists in concealing how much we think of ourselves and how little we think of the other person.”

“To use words and phrases in an easygoing manner without scrutinizing them too curiously is not in general a mark of ill-breeding. On the contrary, there is something low-bred in being too precise. But sometimes there is no help for it”

“It's very dangerous to wave to people you don't know because what if they don't have hands? They'll think you're cocky.”

“It is your turn to say something now, Mr. Darcy. I talked about the dance, and you ought to make some kind of remark on the size of the room, or the number of couples.”

“A man . . . must have a very good opinion of himself when he asks people to leave their own fireside, and encounter such a day as this, for the sake of coming to see him. He must think himself a most agreeable fellow.”

“Eat to please thyself, but dress to please others.”

“A modest ring at the bell at length allayed her fears, and Miss Benton, hurrying into her own room and shutting herself up, in order that she might preserve that appearance of being taken by surprise which is so essential to the polite reception of visitors, awaited their coming with a smiling countenance.”

“Visit your Aunt, but not every Day; and call at your Brother's, but not every night.”