Judith Martin Quotes

A laugh, if purchased at the expense of propriety, costs too much.

Those expressions are omitted which can not with propriety be read aloud in the family.

My mother had all these maxims - like, classy girls never chew gum, never read comic books, never get their ears pierced, never get their hair dyed.

We must watch over our modesty in the presence of those who cannot understand its grounds.

The world prefers decorum to honesty.

There is a fine line between sensuousness and vulgarity. I will not cross that line.

Howard and Shirley were clothed, always, in an invisible layer of decorum that they never laid aside.

Genteel women suppose that those things do not really exist about which it is impossible to talk in polite company.

Manners are the hypocrisy of a nation.

A gentleman never talks about his tailor.

My English text is chaste, and all licentious passages are left in the decent obscurity of a learned language.

I like the English. They have the most rigid code of immorality in the world.

Prithee don't screw your wit beyond the compass of good manners.

Modesty forbids what the law does not.

You can't be truly rude until you understand good manners.

My mother's rules had to do with feminine deportment, so I never played hard enough to break a toy or muddy my dress. My father's rules had to do with never shaming the family by even a hint of scandal, and not providing business rivals with an opportunity to kidnap me or throw acid in my face.

No gentleman ever discusses any relationship with a lady.

They shall not reveal any parts of their bodies, except that which is necessary.

I'm big on what's in good taste.

You can be assured that I need no one's guidance in anything concerning propriety.

Tis a rule of manners to avoid exaggeration.

When in company, put not your hands to any part of the body, not usually discovered.

Decorum -- that bug-bear which deters so many from bliss until the opportunity for bliss has forever gone by.

One should not talk of hatters in the house of the hanged.

In England, we have such good manners that if someone says something impolite, the police will get involved.