Antoine de Saint-Exupery Quotes

All ceremonies are in themselves very silly things; but yet, a man of the world should know them. They are the outworks of Mannersand Decency, which would be too often broken in upon, if it were not for that defence, which keeps the enemy at a proper distance.

All barbarous nations are commonly great observers of ceremonies.

Customs represent the experience of mankind.

I am a journalist in the field of etiquette. I try to find out what the most genteel people regularly do, what traditions they have discarded, what compromises they have made.

Ceremony is an invention to take off the uneasy feeling which we derive from knowing ourselves to be less the object of love and esteem with a fellow-creature than some other person is. It endeavours to make up, by superior attentions in little points, for that invidious preference which it is forced to deny in the greater.

Ceremonies are the outworks of manners.

People and their rituals. They cling to things so hard sometimes.

I was not religious, but I liked rituals. I liked the idea of connecting an action with remembering.

It is meritorious to insist on forms; religion and all else naturally clothes itself in forms. Everywhere the formed world is the only habitable one.

I am not accustomed to protocol.

Tradition is the illusion of permanance.

A family has its own rituals and its own superstitions.

Tradition is a guide and not a jailer.

Names are changed more readily than doctrines, and doctrines more readily than ceremonies.

The etiquette question has become of so much importance as to be an object of state.

It is of the essence of traditions that they cover or conceal their humble foundations by erecting impressive edifices on them.

… a country's laws are written upon paper, and that its customs are engraved upon brass. One may play with the one, but not with the other. It is less risky for a stranger to dance upon our Constitution in the public square than to affront one of our solidified customs. The one is merely eminently respectable, the other is sacred.

A deep meaning resides in old customs.

Traditions are a common part of our lives. They can be good, and not all traditions are wrong, but sometimes they can take the joy out of life.

The only way we'll know where we're going is to look at the past and to remember who we were through ceremonies and rituals.

I just love tradition.

There is nothing wrong in performing rituals according to one's beliefs and culture.

Traditions insist upon themselves. Look around, and you will see them trying to exist everywhere, in everyone's life.

The moment you think creed and form and ceremony the "be-all" and "end-all", then you are in bondage. Take part in them to help others, but take care they do not become a bondage.

There is a proper way to greet the sentinels in Ceris, certain patterns and forms that you must observe when presented to Queen Islanzadí, and a hundred different manners in which to greet those around you, if it’s not better to just remain quiet.” “With all your customs,” Eragon risked saying, “it seems as though you’ve only made it easier to offend people.” A smile flickered across her lips. “Perhaps.