Judith Martin Quotes
Top 79 wise famous quotes and sayings by Judith Martin
Judith Martin Famous Quotes & Sayings
Discover top inspirational quotes from Judith Martin on Wise Famous Quotes.
The obligation to express gratitude deepens with procrastination. The longer you wait, the more effusive must be the thanks.
People read informality as, 'Do whatever you feel like,' and whatever you feel like might be disastrous.
When politeness is used to show up other people, it is reclassified as rudeness. Thus it is technically impossible to be too polite.
[after the death of a loved one] It is when there is nothing more to be done that the reality of the loss often hits with full force.
Being listened to should be sufficiently gratifying in itself, whether or not the advice is followed.
Society cannot exist without etiquette ... It never has, and until our own century, everybody knew that.
We are born charming, fresh and spontaneous and must be civilized before we are fit to participate in society.
Question- Should I loan a small amount of money to a friend? Answer- If you are sure that you can, if necessary, spare both.
It is one of Miss Manners's great discoveries that one needn't contradict others in order to set them straight.
Washington knows that it is not safe to kick people who are down until you find out what their next stop will be.
The language of clothing is high symbolism and we all, in moments where we need to know this, realize it.
Eating grapes with a knife and fork is not what one would call refined. It is what one would call ludicrous.
We are all entitled to our little harmless habits, but we are not entitled to demand approval for them.
A general rule of etiquette is that one apologizes for the unfortunate occurrence, but the unthinkable is unmentionable.
You don't want to look too chic at a Washington party or people will think you don't have a job worth losing.
When someone has tried to please you, it is rude, as well as disheartening, to respond by announcing that the effort was a failure.
You should resolve not to seek public approval of your private business, when you are not also prepared to accept public disapproval.
There are three social classes in America: upper middle class, middle class, and lower middle class.
Life is full of wonderful passions that come and go over the years, but the only one that will never let you down is reading.
My children did not go through a stage of being rude to their parents. I'm sorry if that sounds incredible.
Email is very informal, a memo. But I find that not signing off or not having a salutation bothers me.
If written directions alone would suffice, libraries wouldn't need to have the rest of the universities attached.
Fairness does not consist so much of everybody's doing the same thing, but of everybody's being willing to do something that others don't want to do.
Appearing to pay attention when someone is speaking is one of the cornerstones of real social interaction.
Part of the skill of saying no is to shut up afterward and not babble on, offering material for an argument.
When a society abandons its ideals just because most people can't live up to them, behavior gets very ugly indeed.
Most people who work at home find they do not have the benefit of receptionists who serve as personal guards.
Adorable children are considered to be the general property of the human race. Rude children belong to their mothers.
When you consider how epidemic boredom is in our time, you have to concede that entertaining is a healing art.
Learn graceful ways of saying no and of pointing out that this pressure to do something is not in line with most people's wishes.
The etiquette question that troubles so many fastidious people New Year's Day is: How am I ever going to face those people again?
Charming villains have always had a decided social advantage over well-meaning people who chew with their mouths open.
Freedom without rules doesn't work. And communities do not work unless they are regulated by etiquette.
For email, the old postcard rule applies. Nobody else is supposed to read your postcards, but you'd be a fool if you wrote anything private on one.