British Etiquette Quotes

I love being in scenes where I get to be part of a Maggie Smith put-down. A Dowager Countess put-down is always a special moment. Especially if you're working on set and she managed to do one off set at you.

If an Englishman gets run down by a truck he apologizes to the truck.

The English never smash in a face. They merely refrain from asking it to dinner.

The Brits are ghastly. I never would accept a Brit. It would be like Laurence Olivier being happy getting a TV Times award.

Courtesy is not dead - it has merely taken refuge in Great Britain.

You must not refuse any additional cups of tea under the following circumstances: if it is hot; if it is cold; if you are tired; if anybody thinks that you might be tired; if you are nervous; if you are gay; before you go out; if you are out; if you have just returned home; if you feel like it; if you do not feel like it; if you have had no tea for some time; if you have just had a cup.

I always say to anybody who's going over to America for the first time, 'Whatever you do, go and see a popular mainstream film with a big audience.' Because people shout out. You never get that in Britain. Everybody's so quiet, scared to laugh. It's like being in church.

What's so useful about the British culture of politeness is the level of passive aggression is really fun to write.

In England we are sort of very awkward.

An Englishman is content to say nothing when he has nothing to say.

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.

We don't bother much about dress and manners in England, because as a nation we don't dress well and we've no manners.

The Oxford manner is, alas, indefinable; I was going to say indefensible.

We are English, and I expect you to behave as such. No more crying.