#Etiquette Quotes

“You kiss by th' book.”

“Conversation should be pleasant without scurrility, witty without affectation, free without indecency, learned without conceitedness, novel without falsehood.”

“Manners require time, and nothing is more vulgar than haste.”

“My business was great, and in such a case as mine a man may strain courtesy.”

“A man of no conversation should smoke.”

“If you recognize anyone it does not mean you like them.”

“Most dear actors, eat no onions nor garlic, for we are to utter sweet breath.”

“The art of conversation, or the qualification for a good companion, is a certain self-control, which now holds the subject, now lets it go, with a respect for the emergencies of the moment.”

“A gentleman makes no noise; a lady is serene.”

“When you have to kill a man, it costs nothing to be polite.”

“Whether it's eight o'clock in the morning or eight o'clock at night, I always try to greet others before they have a chance to speak to me.”

“Well, another senator rose and said {as they always do} 'Does the gentleman yield?' They always say that - least they call each other 'gentleman' in there. But the tone they put on the word, it would sound more appropriate if they came right out and said 'Would the coyote from Maine yield?' 'cause that's about the way it sounds. Well, then, the other senator says 'I yield' (for if he don't the other guy'll keep on talking anyhow). So the coyote from Maine says 'I yield to...the polecat from Oregon!'”

“Speak in such a way that others love to listen to you. Listen in such a way that others love to speak to you.”

“It is in bad taste," is the most formidable word an Englishman can pronounce.”

“It is always a practical difficulty with clubs to regulate the laws of election so as to exclude peremptorily every social nuisance. Nobody wishes bad manners. We must have loyalty and character.”

“Praise in public; criticize in private.”

“Fine manners need the support of fine manners in others.”

“If you get into the endzone, act as if you've been there before.”

“Come, dear, [Gwendolen rises] we have already missed five, if not six, trains. To miss any more might expose us to comment on the platform.”

“The worst thing to do with success, is to boast about it.”

“Nothing annoys people so much as not receiving invitations.”

“How you can sit there, calmly eating muffins when we are in this horrible trouble, I can’t make out. You seem to me to be perfectly heartless." "Well, I can’t eat muffins in an agitated manner. The butter would probably get on my cuffs. One should always eat muffins quite calmly. It is the only way to eat them." "I say it’s perfectly heartless your eating muffins at all, under the circumstances.”

“There are times when you get frustrated, but the one thing you always focus on is treating people well. You just cannot storm off and freak out.”

“A gentleman is one who never hurts anyone's feelings unintentionally.”

“The well bred contradict other people. The wise contradict themselves.”

“When one pays a visit it is for the purpose of wasting other people's time, not one's own.”

“To get into the best society, nowadays, one has either to feed people, amuse people, or shock people - that is all!”

“To begin with, I dined there on Monday, and once a week is quite enough to dine with one's own relations.”

“Remember what is unbecoming to do is also unbecoming to speak of.”

“I must decline your invitation owing to a subsequent engagement.”

“If one hears bad music, it is one's duty to drown it by one's conversation.”

“I have criticized absent people so often, and then discovered, to my humiliation, that I was talking with their relatives, that I have grown superstitious about that sort of thing and dropped it.”

“A true gentleman is one who is never intentionally rude.”

“I believe it is customary in good society to take some slight refreshment at five o'clock.”

“For the canons of good society are, or should be, the same as the canons of art. Form is absolutely essential to it.”

“I'm being ironic. Don't interrupt a man in the midst of being ironic, it's not polite. There!”

“One should always eat muffins quite calmly. It is the only way to eat them.”

“No real gentleman will tell the naked truth in the presence of ladies.”

“No matter what time your guests arrive, pretend they're early, so naturally you're not ready.”

“Etiquette requires us to admire the human race.”

“A gentleman is someone who knows how to play the banjo and doesn't.”

“A gentleman never offends unintentionally”

“It is very vulgar to talk about one's own business. Only people like stockbrokers do that, and then only at dinner parties.”

“Keep a good table and attend to the ladies.”

“The habit of attending to small things and of appreciating small courtesies is one of the important marks of a good person.”

“My friend said to me, You know what I like? Mashed potatoes. I was like, Dude, you have to give me time to guess. If you're going to quiz me you have to insert a pause.”

“If I'm out to dinner with a group of friends, and somebody offers to pay for the check, I immediately reach for my wallet. Inside is a note that says, "Say thanks!"”

“I'm going to, not I'm gonna. Talk intelligent”

“Politeness and an affable address are our best introduction.”

“You must not pay a person a compliment, and then straightway follow it with a criticism.”