Polite Conversation Quotes

A well-bred youth neither speakes of himselfe, nor being spoken to is silent.

In general I do not draw well with literary men -- not that I dislike them but I never know what to say to them after I have praised their last publication.

Never speak of a man in his own presence. It is always indelicate, and may be offensive .

Pretending is the grease of non-relationships. Pretending is how you and I get through the day without ever having to know each other. When I walk in the room, you say to me, 'How are you?' Well, you don't want to know. And, frankly, I don't want to tell you. So I just say, 'Fine,' and you go, 'Fine.' And off we go.

Good manners is the art of making those people easy with whom we converse. Whoever makes the fewest people uneasy is the best bred in the room.

It has been said that good prose should resemble the conversation of a well-bred man.

We don't pretend to disagree.

How ya doin'?' I always think, What kind of a question is that?, and I always reply, 'A bit early to tell.

A party is a slightly artificial event where one learns the rudiments of human behavior at its most admirable: speaking when spoken to, looking somebody in the eye, shaking hands and being friendly under duress.

Grace, respect, reserve, and empathetic listening are qualities sorely missing from the public discourse now.

On every formal visit a child ought to be of the party, by way of provisions for discourse.

Well,” Waxillium said. “Perhaps I should begin by asking after your health.” “Perhaps you should,” Steris replied. “Er. Yes. How’s your health?” “Suitable.” “So is Waxillium,” Wayne added. They all turned to him. “You know,” he said. “He’s wearing a suit, and all. Suitable. Ahem. Is that mahogany?

Stay out of the gutter in your conversation. Foul talk defiles the man who speaks it.

How do you do?" said Violet. "How do you do?" said Klaus. "Odo yow!" said Sunny.

The most elementary of good manners . . . at a social gathering one does not bring up the subject of personalities, sad topics or unfortunate facts, religion, or politics.

Teas, Where small talk dies in agonies.

Some people don't even say hello. They come up and say, 'Can I take your picture?' and I'm, like, 'Why?' And they say, 'Oh, you're that guy.' And I'm, like, 'Why do you want a photo of me if you don't even know my name?'

For parlor use, the vague generality is a life saver.

Don't take up a man's time talking about the smartness of your children; he wants to talk to you about the smartness of his children.

On the Continent there is one topic which should be avoided-the weather; in England, if you do not repeat the phrase "Lovely day, isn't it?" at least two hundred times a day, you are considered a bit dull.

At a dinner party one should eat wisely but not too well, and talk well but not too wisely.

"Sorry," she said, "I got out as fast as I could, but I had to stay and socialize. Protocol, you know." "Explain protocol," Nell said. This was how she always talked to the Primer. "At the place we’re going, you need to watch your manners. Don’t say 'explain this' or 'explain that.'" "Would it impose on your time unduly to provide me with a concise explanation of the term protocol?" Nell said. Again Rita made that nervous laugh and looked at Nell with an expression that looked like poorly concealed alarm.

Felicity," Mrs. Featherington interurupted, "why don't you tell Mr. Brdgerton about your watercolors?" For the life of him, Colin couldn't imagine a less interesting topic (except maybe for Phillipa's watercolors), but he nonetheless turned to the youngest Featherington with a friendly smile and asked, "And how are your watercolors?" But Felicity, bless her heart, gave him a rather friendly smile herself and said nothing but, "I imagine they're fine, thank you.

American life is based on a reassurance that we like one another but won't violate one another's privacies. This makes it a land of small talk.

In dinner talk it is perhaps allowable to fling any faggot rather than let the fire go out.