Emily Post Quotes

I never cheat or steal. Also, I never wear a top-hat with a sack coat or munch bananas in public on the streets, because a gentleman does not do those things either. I would as soon do the one as the other sort of thing--it is all a matter of harmony and good taste.

Believe me, there exists no such dilemma as that in which a gentleman is placed when he is forced to reply to a blackguard.

If the announcer can produce the impression that he is a gentleman, he may pronounce as he pleases.

For through the South the custom still commands The gentleman to kiss the lady's hands.

Now, it is well known, that a man may with more impunity be guilty of an actual breach either of real good breeding or of good morals, than appear ignorant of the most minute point of fashionable etiquette.

The etiquette question that troubles so many fastidious people New Year's Day is: How am I ever going to face those people again?

British conversation is like a game of cricket or a boxing match; personal allusions are forbidden like hitting below the belt, and anyone who loses his temper is disqualified.

The wisest and best are repulsive, if they are characterized by repulsive manners. Politeness is an easy virtue, costs little, and has great purchasing power.

Questioning is not the mode of conversation among gentlemen.

Nobody thanks a witty man for politeness when he puts himself on a par with a society in which it would not be polite to show one's wit.

A gentleman does not appear to know more or to be more than those with whom he is thrown into company.

A country gentleman should bring his lady to visit London as soon as he can, that they may have agreeable topicks for conversation when they are by themselves.

Wit sometimes enables us to act rudely with impunity.

The best way to learn to be a lady is to see how other ladies do it.

Private problems don't constitute an excuse for bad manners.

"Keep your hands to yourself!" might almost be put at the head of the first chapter of every book on etiquette.

I've got confidence that most people in America still have a decent sense of manners, propriety, morality.

Yes, etiquette is hypocritical. Yes, it does inhibit children - if you're lucky. But the idea that it's elitist and irrelevant is like saying language is elitist and irrelevant.

Getting yelled at by a furious woman should be treated as a semiformal occasion.

A dying culture invariably exhibits personal rudeness. Bad manners. Lack of consideration for others in minor matters. A loss of politeness, of gentle manners, is more significant than is a riot.

Never slam a car door. According to the Westchester elite, it's a heinous crime, as heartless as kicking a puppy.

It was odd how one found oneself making trivial conversation on important occasions. Perhaps it was because one could not say what was really in one's mind.

The purpose of polite behavior is never virtuous. Deceit, surrender, and concealment these are not virtues. The goal of the mannerly is comfort, per se.

Gentlemen do so appreciate a nicely trimmed décolletage.

Discreetly keep most of your radical opinions to yourself. When with people be a listener a large part of the time. Be considerate in every word and act, and resist the tendency to say clever things. The best evidence of your culture is the tone and temper of your conversation.