Harriet Walter Quotes

You may be a princess or the richest woman in the world, but you cannot be more than a lady.

In the contemporary world, we think of politeness as surface behavior, like frosting - it's sweet and attractive and finishes off the cake. But 19th century nobility and the enlightened thinkers and stoics before them viewed manners in a very different way. To them, manners are an outward expression of an inward struggle.

I've met the Queen a couple of times, and she's been delightful. In fact, I often find myself thinking: 'What would the Queen do in this situation? Write a thank-you note? Yes, I'll do that.' She's all about courtesy.

Stillness of person and steadiness of features are signal marks of good breeding.

The English gentleman is a combination of silence, courtesy, dignity, sport, newspapers and honesty.

To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, you must also be well-mannered.

My manners, abominable at times, can be sweet.

Courtesy is a lady's armor.

The more you act like a lady, the more he'll act like a gentleman.

I'm a gentleman.

By the by, if the English race had done nothing else, yet if they left the world the notion of a gentleman, they would have done a great service to mankind.

And though it is much to be a nobleman, it is more to be a gentleman.

I think the thing I miss most in our age is our manners. It sounds so old-fashioned in a way. But even bad people had good manners in the old days, and manners hold a community together, and manners hold a family together; in a way, they hold the world together.

A bad manner spoils everything, even reason and justice; a good one supplies everything, gilds a No, sweetens a truth, and adds a touch of beauty to old age itself.

In a day when, if you insulted a man it might cost you your life, you were probably more civil.

I am at heart a gentleman.

To Americans, English manners are far more frightening than none at all.

For me, politeness is a sine qua non of civilization.

A hat should be taken off when you greet a lady and left off for the rest of your life. Nothing looks more stupid than a hat.

The small courtesies sweeten life; the greater ennoble it.

I think that tennis is a lady's sport, so we should look out there like ladies.

I'm a gentleman, if nothing else. It's taken me years to become one, but finally I have a sense of propriety.

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

I'm very much a gentleman in what I do.

I'm teaching my daughters to be ladies by showing them how to dress appropriately when they leave the house, and how to be thoughtful and polite.