Daniel Handler Quotes

No 'Good evening, Jean-Claude, how are you doing?' Just down to business. How terribly rude,ma petite ." - Jean-Claude

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.

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

I believe in courtesy, the ritual by which we avoid hurting other people's feelings by satisfying our own egos.

If you are going to be rude, be quick about it.

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

Courtesy is fine and heaven knows we need more and more of it in a rude and frenetic world, but mechanized courtesy is as pallid as Pablum ... in fact, it isn't even courtesy.

Many young persons believe themselves natural when they are only impolite and coarse.

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

No one is more insufferable than he who lacks basic courtesy.

In truth, politeness is artificial good humor, it covers the natural want of it, and ends by rendering habitual a substitute nearly equivalent to the real virtue.

It is more comfortable for me, in the long run, to be rude than polite.

If someone's being less than courteous to you, I don't think you need to pay any attention to them.

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.

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

The test of good manners is to be able to put up pleasantly with bad ones.

Nothing costs less nor is cheaper than compliments of civility.

Rule number one: Never make anyone uncomfortable in your home-even morons.

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.

Manners, really good ones, make it possible to live with almost anyone, gracefully and pleasantly.

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

Good-breeding shows itself most where to an ordinary eye it appears the least.

Manners form the great charm of women.

I have no small talk and Peel has no manners.