Good Manners Quotes

“Civilized people must, I believe, satisfy the following criteria:

1) They respect human beings as individuals and are therefore always tolerant, gentle, courteous and amenable ... They do not create scenes over a hammer or a mislaid eraser; they do not make you feel they are conferring a great benefit on you when they live with you, and they don't make a scandal when they leave. (...)

2) They have compassion for other people besides beggars and cats. Their hearts suffer the pain of what is hidden to the naked eye. (...)

3) They respect other people's property, and therefore pay their debts.

4) They are not devious, and they fear lies as they fear fire. They don't tell lies even in the most trivial matters. To lie to someone is to insult them, and the liar is diminished in the eyes of the person he lies to. Civilized people don't put on airs; they behave in the street as they would at home, they don't show off to impress their juniors. (...)

5) They don't run themselves down in order to provoke the sympathy of others. They don't play on other people's heartstrings to be sighed over and cosseted ... that sort of thing is just cheap striving for effects, it's vulgar, old hat and false. (...)

6) They are not vain. They don't waste time with the fake jewellery of hobnobbing with celebrities, being permitted to shake the hand of a drunken [judicial orator], the exaggerated bonhomie of the first person they meet at the Salon, being the life and soul of the bar ... They regard prases like 'I am a representative of the Press!!' -- the sort of thing one only hears from [very minor journalists] -- as absurd. If they have done a brass farthing's work they don't pass it off as if it were 100 roubles' by swanking about with their portfolios, and they don't boast of being able to gain admission to places other people aren't allowed in (...) True talent always sits in the shade, mingles with the crowd, avoids the limelight ... As Krylov said, the empty barrel makes more noise than the full one. (...)

7) If they do possess talent, they value it ... They take pride in it ... they know they have a responsibility to exert a civilizing influence on [others] rather than aimlessly hanging out with them. And they are fastidious in their habits. (...)

8) They work at developing their aesthetic sensibility ... Civilized people don't simply obey their baser instincts ... they require mens sana in corpore sano.

And so on. That's what civilized people are like ... Reading Pickwick and learning a speech from Faust by heart is not enough if your aim is to become a truly civilized person and not to sink below the level of your surroundings.

[From a letter to Nikolay Chekhov, March 1886]”
― Anton Chekhov, A Life in Letters

“Politeness is the first thing people lose once they get the power.”
― Amit Kalantri, Wealth of Words

“Good manners have much to do with the emotions. To make them ring true, one must feel them, not merely exhibit them.”
― Amy Vanderbilt

“Be polite; write diplomatically; even in a declaration of war one observes the rules of politeness.”
― Otto von Bismarck

“You are very clever," said the old man shyly. "I would like to eat your brains, one day."
For some reason the books of etiquette that Daphne's grandmother had forced on her didn't quite deal with this. Of course, silly people would say to babies, "You're so sweet I could gobble you all up!" but that sort of nonsense seemed less funny when it was said by a man in war paint who owned more than one skull. Daphne, cursed with good manners, settled for "It's very kind of you to say so.”
― Terry Pratchett, Nation

“There is an old German fable about porcupines who need to huddle together for warmth, but are in danger of hurting each other with their spines. When they find the optimum distance to share each other's warmth without putting each other's eyes out, their state of contrived cooperation is called good manners. Well, those old German fabulists certainly knew a thing or two. When you acknowledge other people politely, the signal goes out, "I'm here. You're there. I'm staying here. You're staying there. Aren't we both glad we sorted that out?" When people don't acknowledge each other politely, the lesson from the porcupine fable is unmistakeable. "Freeze or get stabbed, mate. It's your choice.”
― Lynne Truss, Talk to the Hand: The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today, or Six Good Reasons to Stay Home and Bolt the Door

“It is also a warning. It is a warning that, if nobody reads the writing on the wall, man will be reduced to the state of the beast, whom he is shaming by his manners.”
― Mahatma Gandhi, Gandhi: An Autobiography

“Freedom of Speech doesn't justify online bullying. Words have power, be careful how you use them.”
― Germany Kent

“Zoe leaned closer to Ruth, nearly nose to nose. “If they were made from better stuff, they would have pretended the fault was theirs. They would have made a moment of it--a pretty moment.”
― Michael Benzehabe

“It used to be just CIA agents with ear-pieces who walked round with preoccupied, faraway expressions, and consequently regarded all the little people as irrelevant scum. Now, understandably, it's nearly everybody.”
― Lynne Truss, Talk to the Hand: The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today, or Six Good Reasons to Stay Home and Bolt the Door

“Bear in mind three essential qualities in all games of intellect:– Never to show selfishness or to wound the feelings of your adversary. To be modest with a good game. To lose without ill-temper, and to win without bragging.”
― W. Patterson

“It was good, too, to remember how hard a lot of people had to work to keep a kingdom running well, and that it was simply good manners to let them know, from time to time, how valued they were.”
― Jean Ferris, Twice Upon a Marigold

“Then [good manners] must be inspired by the good heart. There is no beautifier of complexion, or form, or behavior, like the wish to scatter joy and not pain around us.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Wisdom is not counted in grammers, niether in fluency, but vividly shown in mannerism.”
― Michael Bassey Johnson

“Good manners is the fabric that holds the community together.”
― David Esabwa

“Think before you click. If people do not know you personally and if they cannot see you as you type, what you post online can be taken out of context if you are not careful in the way your message is delivered.”
― Germany Kent

“I have always admired your refusal, in the pursuit of your convictions, ever to be constrained by considerations of humanity—much less of ordinary good manners.”
― Zen Cho, Sorcerer to the Crown

“Flawless and faultless outcomes are not products of lawless and careless people. No lawless person is a genuine innovator. To your skillfulness, add good manners; to your willfulness, add carefulness!”
― Israelmore Ayivor, Daily Drive 365

“There’s no respect for older people at all today, and that’s saddening. Look at the way crime against older people has risen! You know, there’s no calling people ‘Mr’ or ‘Mrs’ now, they just call you, and it’s all ‘fuck off’ and the likes of.”
― Stephen Richards, Street Warrior: The True Story of the Legendary Malcolm Price, Britain's Hardest Man

“My friend, it is a firm belief of mine that if a gentleman is to secure the services of a London cab then he should certainly carry a carrot on his person. Why only tip the driver and not the horse?”
― Kevin Ansbro, The Minotaur's Son & Other Wild Tales

“Wear a clean uniform, and a clean character.”
― Utibe Samuel Mbom, The Event Usher’s Handbook

“Good manners without sincerity are like a beautiful dead lady.

Straightforwardness without civility is like a surgeon's knife, effective but unpleasant.

Candor with courtesy is helpful and admirable.”
― Yukteswar Giri

“To be a good man needed a highly smartness in nowsday”
― Giharu Si Perempuan Gunung

“The Purpose of Friendship to Me is Having One to Complement Not One to Compete with!”
― Jaachynma N.E. Agu, Risk It, Be Different

“When good manners fall into disuse, we are easily bruised by the rough edges of life. Address your ignorance. "Pursue civilization.”
― Darmie O-Lujon

“But charm is not only being soft-spoken, relaxed, and at ease; it's wanting to be a giver. Wanting to be a good listener. Responding, communicating, having a genuine interest in people. It's having a good memory for amusing things so that you're a happy person to be with. Charm is grace — graciousness. And it all has to be real — good manners and good manners of the heart. Charm is a touch of magic. Try to make it a part of your way of life.”
― Joan Crawford, My Way of Life

“As for the other little amenities — yes, the lady lets the man light her cigarette, help her on with her coat, and open the door for her. Even if he’s the boss. Manners are manners, and success doesn’t mean that a woman has to forgo the courtesies that make life easy and pleasant.”
― Joan Crawford, My Way of Life

“Society teaches that it is rude to leave a conversation without a reason, but from the vantage point of spiritual fertility, your spiritual and energetic health trumps good manners.”
― Von, Julie

“A lot of people who behave well at the table do so only when a special guest is around.”
― Michael Bassey Johnson, Night of a Thousand Thoughts

“But people kept their suspicions to themselves. Eden has always prided itself on its good manners, and good manners are mostly keeping you mouth shut and your mind on your own business.”
― Alix E. Harrow, Starling House