Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes

A man must have very eminent qualities to hold his own without being polite.

Manners are made up of trivialities of deportment which can be easily learned if one does not happen to know them.

Manners require showing consideration of all human beings, not just the ones to whom one is close.

Wit sometimes enables us to act rudely with impunity.

Manners are the hypocrisy of a nation.

A man's manners are a mirror in which he shows his portrait.

Charm, I think, is education, really, no? I was educated to be nice to everybody. If you want to be rude and mean, I'm sure your life isn't that nice.

The Japanese have perfected good manners and made them indistinguishable from rudeness.

Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split.

In my culture, whispering in the company of others is considered rude.

As a rule, I think they are quite impossible. Geniuses talk so much, don't they? Such a bad habit! And they are always thinking about themselves, when I want them to be thinking about me.

In a culture, manners are the lubrication that ease the frictions of social contacts.

There is reason in the distinction of civil and uncivil. The manners are sometimes so rough a rind that we doubt whether they cover any core or sap-wood at all.

It seldom pays to be rude. It never pays to be only half-rude.

In all that surrounds him the egotist sees only the frame of his own portrait.

People who are wrapped up in themselves make small packages.

Manners form the great charm of women.

Good manners are the expressions of benevolence in personal intercourse, by which we endeavor to promote the comfort and enjoyment of others, and to avoid all that gives needless uneasiness.

Puffballs of vanity when they're not being absurdly violent; wretchedly unhappy in their mental prisons and too stubborn to open the door and escape.

The knowledge of courtesy and good manners is a very necessary study. It is like grace and beauty, that which begets liking and an inclination to love one another at the first sight.

A well-bred man is always sociable and complaisant.

Whoever one is, and wherever one is, one is always in the wrong if one is rude.

There is no excuse for bad manners, except fast reflexes.

Politeness is an inexpensive way to make friends.

I met a new girl at a barbecue, very pretty, a blond I think. I don't know, her hair was on fire, and all she talked about was herself. You know these kind of girls: 'I'm hot. I'm on fire. Me, me, me.' You know. 'Help me, put me out.' Come on, could we talk about me just a little bit?