Politeness Quotes

Politeness can at once be the indifferent affliction of the 'civilized' as well as a subterfuge for the designed offence. ~ Vinod Pande

I still do find it very difficult in the West to connect to this politeness of smiling, not saying how you're thinking or not saying how you really feel. ~ Waris Dirie

Politeness does not always inspire goodness, equity, complaisance, and gratitude; it gives at least the appearance of these qualities, and makes man appear outwardly, as he should be within. ~ Jean De La Bruyere

Acceptable hypocrisy is often called politeness. ~ Shannon L. Alder

When suave politeness, tempering bigot zeal, corrected 'I believe' to 'one does feel'. ~ Ronald Knox

When the Starbursts cost a cent apiece, the average number of candies per customer was 3.5, but when the price went down to zero, the average went down to 1.1 per customer. The students limited themselves to a large degree when the candy was free. In fact, almost all the students applied a very simple social-norm rule in this situation - they politely took one and only one Starburst ... What these results mean is that when price is not a part of the exchange, we become less selfish maximizers and start caring more about the welfare of others. We saw this demonstrated by the fact that when the price decreased to zero, customers restrained themselves and took far fewer units. ~ Dan Ariely

We count so much on politeness, those of us who are hiding things. We count on people not staring too long, or asking too many questions. ~ Lisa Unger

The veneer of civilization is exceedingly thin ~ Karin Tansek

In the actual state of social relationships, the forms ("formes", Fr.) of politeness are necessary as a subsitute to benevolence. ~ African Spir

The test of good manners is to be patient with bad ones. ~ Gabirol

But to be included in Dick Diver's world for a while was a remarkable experience: people believed he made special reservations about them, recognizing the proud uniqueness of their destinies, buried under the compromises of how many years. He won everyone quickly with an exquisite consideration and a politeness that moved so fast and intuitively that it could be examined only in its effect. Then, without caution, lest the first bloom of the relation wither, he opened the gate to his amusing world. So long as they subscribed to it completely, their happiness was his preoccupation, but at the first flicker of doubt as to its all- inclusiveness he evaporated before their eyes, leaving little communicable memory of what he had said or done. ~ F Scott Fitzgerald

A real gentleman is as polite to a little girl as to a woman. ~ Louisa May Alcott

Of the few who were not afraid to witness the burial of a witch and who had gone to the cemetery, some had come just to verify her being put away but stayed to sing 'Shall We Gather at the River' for politeness' sake, quite unaware of the bleak promise of their song. Others came to see that nothing go awry, that the shallow-minded and small-hearted kept their meanness at bay, and that the entire event be characterized by that abiding gentleness of spirit to which they themselves had arrived by the simple determination not to let anything--anything at all: not failed crops, not rednecks, lost jobs, sick children, rotten potatoes, broken pipes, bug-ridden flour, third-class coal, educated social workers, thieving insurance men, garlic-ridden hunkies, corrupt Catholics, racist Protestants, cowardly Jews, slaveholding Moslems, jack-leg nigger preachers, squeamish Chinamen, cholera, dropsy or the Black Plague, let alone a strange woman--keep them from their God. ~ Toni Morrison

Kate said, her eyes very large, 'I find your rudeness abominable and your politeness obnoxious but my goodness, Francis Crawford, what terrifies me more than a jungle of tigers is the moment when you look worried. ~ Dorothy Dunnett

he was whisked away from the lines of passengers and led along corridors with the politeness you might observe when dealing with a politician belonging to a country that had nuclear weapons and a carefree approach to their deployment. ~ Terry Pratchett

Politeness is often fear. Kindness is always courage. But caring is what makes you human. Care more, become more human. ~ Matt Haig

The politeness was painful. I wanted to push through it, to return to the glow of the night of the concert, but I was unsure of how to get back there. ~ Gayle Forman

Polite, socially acceptable suppression of our rage is "inauthentic," insofar as we are not sharing our full selves. And that is part of trust, too. Part of being trustworthy is meeting expectations and staying in line, as if you were a well-behaved woman. ~ Emily Nagoski

Politeness, n: The most acceptable hypocrisy. ~ Ambrose Bierce

Politeness is fictitious benevolence. Depend upon it, the want of it never fails to produce something disagreeable to one or other. ~ Samuel Johnson

Who keeps you safe from the Amyr? The singers? The Sithe? From all that would harm you in the world? Haliax asked with calm politeness, as if genuinely curious as to what the answer might be. ~ Patrick Rothfuss

Many building custodians across the country would tell you that UCLA left the shower and dressing room the cleanest of any team. We picked up all the tape, never there soap on the shower floor for someone to slip on, made sure all the showers were turned off and all towels were accounted for. The towels were always deposited in a receptacle, if there was one, or stacked nearly near the door. It seems to me that this is everyone's responsibility-not just the mangers's. Furthermore, I believe it is a form of discipline that should be a way of life, not to please some building custodian, but as an expression of courtesy and politeness that each of us owes to his follow-man. These little things establish a spirit of togetherness and consideration that help unite the team into a solid unit. ~ John Wooden

During a long and varied career as a bachelor, I have noticed that marriage is the death of politeness between a man and a woman. ~ Arnold Bennett

ACCEPT PRAISE FOR ITS WORTH - POLITENESS. BE BRUTALLY FRANK WITH YOURSELF. IT'S SAFER. ~ Nellie Bly

The politeness was unbearable. They avoided touching each other, careful as strangers on a train ... A family can go on for years without the love that once bound it together, like a lovely old wall that stays standing long after rain has crumbled the mortar. ~ Kathleen Winter

People should be left to believe what they like, so long as they harm no one else. Apart from normal expectations of politeness, it is not however clear why people should require their personal beliefs to be treated with special sensitivity by others, to the point that if others fail to tip-toe respectfully around them they will start throwing bombs. ~ A.C. Grayling

Do not be deceived by the the politeness of the fey. Fey are almost always polite. This does not mean they will not happily remove your head. ~ Julie Kagawa

Politeness is one of those advantages which we never estimate rightly but by the inconvenience of its loss. ~ Samuel Johnson

Politeness as filtered through fragility and supremacy isn't about manners; it's about a methodology of controlling the conversation. ~ Mikki Kendall

You can do a lot more with weapons and politeness than just politeness. ~ Vladimir Putin

The last introvert in a world of extroverts. Silence: my response to both emptiness and saturation. But silence frightens people. I had to learn how to talk. Out of politeness. ~ Ariel Gore

The only option is politeness-remember always that you are dealing with other primates. ~ Paul Ford

Thank Siri when she helps, it's only polite! ~ Dutch Jones

Nine times out of 10, the most charming thing to say in any given situation will be the exact opposite of what one really feels. ~ Geoff Dyer

Claudia yelled at an obnoxious level. I must have made a face because she responded to me. "Get used to it, gorgeous man. If you're going to be part of our group, you're going to have to handle our rude-ass behavior. There's no room for politeness in a family." She winked at me. I smiled. ~ C.J. Roberts

The almost Oriental politeness of the West Coast is one of its distinctive regional features, in marked contrast to the contentiousness of the East Coast ... So few human contacts in Los Angeles go unmediated by glass (either a TV screen or an automobile windshield), that the direct confrontation renders the participants docile, stunned, sweet. ~ Edmund White

Ceremonies are different in every country, but true politeness is everywhere the same. ~ Oliver Goldsmith

Politeness is nothing without respect ~ Brandon Escriba

PLEASE and THANK YOU...two polite phrases which are slowly disappearing from our vocabulary. ~ Anthony T. Hincks

The telegraphic style banishes all the forms of politeness, ~ James Gleick

M. Vinteuil...carried politeness and consideration for others to such scrupulous lengths, always putting himself in their place, that he was afraid of boring them, or of appearing egotistical, if he carried out or even allowed them to suspect what were his own desires. On the day when my parents had gone to pay him a visit, I had accompanied them, but they had allowed me to remain outside, and as M. Vinteuil's house, Montjouvain, stood at the foot of a bushy hillock where I went to hide, I had found myself on a level with his drawing-room, upstairs, and only a few feet away from its window. When the servant came in to tell him that my parents had arrived, I had seen M. Vinteuil hurriedly place a sheet of music in a prominent position on the piano. But as soon as they entered the room he had snatched it away and put it in a corner. He was afraid, no doubt, of letting them suppose that he was glad to see them only because it gave him a chance of playing them some of his compositions. And every time that my mother, in the course of her visit, had returned to the subject he had hurriedly protested: 'I can't think who put that on the piano; it's not the proper place for it at all,' and had turned the conversation aside to other topics, precisely because they were of less interest to himself. ~ Marcel Proust

As I am sure you know, when people say 'It's my pleasure,' they usually mean something along the lines of, 'There's nothing on Earth I would rather do less.' [ ... ] ~ Lemony Snicket

Upon Mrs Scorton's reappearance, she found herself confronted, not by the fool of his family, but by the Honourable Frederick Standen, a Pink of the Pinks, who knew to a nicety how to blend courtesy with hauteur, and who informed her, with exquisite politeness, that he rather fancied his cousin was tired, and would like to be taken home. One of the uninvited guests, entering the box in Eliza's wake, ventured on a warm sally, found himself being inspected from head to foot through a quizzing-glass, and stammered an apology. ~ Georgette Heyer

My own plan for the coming fourteen months is to knock on doors and stuff envelopes. Maybe even to wear a button. To try to accrete with others into a demographically significant mass. To try extra hard to exercise patience, politeness, and imagination on those with whom I disagree. Also to floss more. ~ David Foster Wallace

Politeness of the mind is to have delicate thoughts ~ Francois De La Rochefoucauld

Politeness. Now there's a poor man's virtue if ever there was one. What's so admirable about inoffensiveness, I should like to know. After all, it's easily achieved. One needs no particular talent to be polite. On the contrary, being nice is what's left when you've failed at everything else. People with ambition don't give a damn what other people think about them. ~ Diane Setterfield

Tact, the kind of tact you should cultivate, is not a form of deception or make-believe, but a cultivated taste which gives fine perception in seeing and doing what is best under all circumstances. There is nothing which will so readily bring you into favor, or disarm an opponent, as the right use of tact. ~ Grenville Kleiser

Why do I love you? Because you looked into my eyes and saw me. Behind the painted beauty, the forced expressions, the practiced gestures and habitual politeness, you saw me - the pure, vulnerable core that is my true essence. Somehow, in a kind but knowing glimpse you stripped away the façade, and I will never forget the relief it was to finally be seen. ~ Richelle E. Goodrich

Fine manners are like personal beauty,
a letter of credit everywhere. ~ C. A. Bartol

Old men when they begin to hear the last trumpet, on the morning breeze, often have a kind of absent-minded smile; like people listening. And their smiles are just politeness. ~ Joyce Cary

Piety is a discipline of the will through respect. It admits the right to exist of things larger than the ego, of things different from the ego. ~ Richard M. Weaver

Perhaps she loved me, in her own way, as I loved her, in mine. But we didn't know one another. Perhaps because I never allowed her to know me, or I never took any steps towards getting to know her. We spent our lives like two strangers who see each other every single day and greet one another out of politeness. ~ Carlos Ruiz Zafon

True politeness is the spirit of benevolence showing itself in a refined way. It is the expression of good-will and kindness. It promotes both beauty in the man who possesses it, and happiness in those who are about him. It is a religious duty, and should be a part of religious training. ~ Henry Ward Beecher

What a school of politeness is such a contemplation of the past! To take everything objectively, to be angry at nothing, to love nothing, to understand everything
makes one gentle and pliable. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

It seems to me that the spirit of politeness is a certain attention in causing that, by our words and by our manners, others may be content with us and with themselves. ~ Jean De La Bruyere

In short, one who loves the illusion of the good is eventually won over to actually loving the good. But how can love of the illusion of the good lead to love of the good itself? If one loves the illusion of the good and enacts this illusion in social intercourse, one might come to appreciate its worth and to love the good itself for its own sake. Correlatively, from the point of view of the spectator, loving the illusion of the good in others may make us act politely in order to become lovable, which leads us to exercise our self-mastery, control our passions, and, eventually, to love the good for its own sake. In this sense, paradoxically, by deceiving others through politeness and social pretence, we in fact deceive ourselves and transform our pragmatic, polite behavior into virtuous behavior: by deceiving others through the pretence of virtue, we foster civil society, and in doing so, deceive ourselves by transforming our pretense of virtue into a disposition for virtue itself. Does not this line of thought recall Pascal's advice to non-believers who would like to believe, but cannot bring themselves to accomplish the leap of faith? "Kneel down, pray, act as if you believe, and belief will come by itself. ~ Slavoj Zizek

To the acquisition of the rare quality of politeness, so much of the enlightened understanding is necessary that I cannot but consider every book in every science, which tends to make us wiser, and of course better men, as a treatise on a more enlarged system of politeness. ~ Harold Monro

Politeness and consideration for others is like investing pennies and getting dollars back. ~ Thomas Sowell

When one is polite in German, one lies. ~ Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Politeness only teaches us to save others from unnecessary pain ... You are not bound by politeness to tell any falsehoods. ~ Maria Edgeworth

She observed the dumb-show by which her neighbour was expressing her passion for music, but she refrained from copying it. This was not to say that, for once that she had consented to spend a few minutes in Mme. de Saint-Euverte's house, the Princesse des Laumes would not have wished (so that the act of politeness to her hostess which she had performed by coming might, so to speak, 'count double') to shew herself as friendly and obliging as possible. But she had a natural horror of what she called 'exaggerating,' and always made a point of letting people see that she 'simply must not' indulge in any display of emotion that was not in keeping with the tone of the circle in which she moved, although such displays never failed to make an impression upon her, by virtue of that spirit of imitation, akin to timidity, which is developed in the most self-confident persons, by contact with an unfamiliar environment, even though it be inferior to their own. She began to ask herself whether these gesticulations might not, perhaps, be a necessary concomitant of the piece of music that was being played, a piece which, it might be, was in a different category from all the music that she had ever heard before; and whether to abstain from them was not a sign of her own inability to understand the music, and of discourtesy towards the lady of the house; with the result that, in order to express by a compromise both of her contradictory inclinations in turn, at one moment she would merely stra ~ Marcel Proust

Man has made himself free, terribly and dizzyingly free. Religion and art are kept alive for the sake of sentimentality, as a conventional politeness toward the past, a benevolent solicitude of leisure's increasingly nervous citizens. ~ Ingmar Bergman

I suggest he starts introducing himself as "Lessman"; he is classless, tactless, and mannerless. ~ Natalya Vorobyova

Sydney tried - sometimes he really tried - but his default mindset didn't have those kinds of manners. What he really meant was more like "Jacob, get over here or I'll freeze your underwear." Something like that. ~ Rebecca McKinsey

Some people mistake weakness for tact. If they are silent when they ought to speak and so feign an agreement they do not feel, they call it being tactful. Cowardice would be a much better name. Tact is an active quality t hat is not exercised by merely making a dash for cover. Be sure, when you think you are being extremely tactful, that you are not in reality running away from something you ought to face. ~ Frank Medlicott

Nobody thanks a witty man for politeness when he puts himself on a par with a society in which it would not be polite to show one's wit. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Ignorance has one virtue: persistence. It will insist through dogged persistence on leading others to follow its vision no matter how misguided. Ignorance will drive the world to the brink of failure and catastrophe and beyond into the abyss with arrogance and anger because wisdom is often too polite to fight. Wisdom doesn't like to impose its will, but that is all ignorance understands - force over free will and choice. Sooner or later the world comes to its senses, but oh the damage that has been done. ~ John Kramer

No use to preach to the working-man courtesy & politeness when at the same time the working-man is not given working conditions under which he can stay polite and soft-mannered. ~ B. Traven

Ability does catches my attention, but its a politeness in the person that I remember. ~ Amit Kalantri

I still can't understand how Cecil and my old tutor, Fitz, got along so well, when we often called Fitz 'the Genius' and avoided calling Cecil anything at all, so as not to be rude. ~ Franny Billingsley

Your first reaction is the characteristic one of your contrasuggestible century: to disbelieve, to disprove. I see this very clearly underneath your politeness. ~ John Fowles

Forgas and his colleagues have demonstrated diverse benefits of a sad mood. It can improve memory performance, reduce errors in judgment, make people slightly better at detecting deception in others, and foster more effective interpersonal strategies, such as increasing the politeness of requests. ~ Jonathan Rottenberg

All legislation, all government, all society is founded upon the principle of mutual concession, politeness, comity, courtesy; upon these everything is based ... Let him who elevates himself above humanity, above its weaknesses, its infirmities, its wants, its necessities, say, if he pleases, I will never compromise; but let no one who is not above the frailties of our common nature disdain compromises. ~ Henry Clay

Spare me this sanctimony about politeness, please. There are millions of people in this country who hate the very word 'Thatcher' and 'Thatcherism,' which continues until this day. ~ George Galloway

Politeness is the chief sign of culture. ~ Baltasar Gracian

His manner somehow friendly and courtly at the same time. ~ Nancy Gibbs

He rose, offering his hand to Evanlyn to assist her. Even though she was lithe and athletic as a cat, she took it, enjoying the contact. She saw Horace's slight frown as she did so and smiled to herself. A girl can never have too many admirers, she thought. Will seemed unperturbed by the fact that she retained hold of Selethen's hand a little longer than politeness dictated. But then, Ranger's were trained to look imperturbable. He was probably seething with jealousy, she thought. ~ John Flanagan

She said it quite correctly; there was nothing offensive in the quiet politeness of her voice; but following his high note of enthusiasm, her voice struck a tone that seemed flat and deadly in its indifference - as if the two sounds mingled into an audible counterpoint around the melodic thread of her contempt. ~ Ayn Rand

Cinderella studied the colonel. "Haven't you tired of history, or my voice?" she asked, her tone closer to sincerity than the stiff politeness she usually used. "Not yet," he smirked. Cinderella ~ K.M. Shea

It's striking how many of the world's biggest problems, and many of the small ones too. are eliminated by the simplest of solutions – having women around. ~ Geoff Dyer

As in smooth oil the razor best is whet, So wit is by politeness sharpest set; Their want of edge from their offence is seen, Both pain us least when exquisitely keen. ~ Edward Young

Kindly politeness is the slow fruit of advanced reflection; it is a sort of humanity and kindliness applied to small acts and every day discourse: it bids man soften towards others, and forget himself for the sake of others: it constrains genuine nature, which is selfish and gross. ~ Hippolyte Taine

As the head of an expedition, you can't pussyfoot around being polite to everyone. You have to show your teeth once in a while; a little growling goes a long way. ~ Tahir Shah

Ye have to be bold, lad. We're told that ladies want cringing politeness from a gentleman, but what they really want is a bit of forwardness, even carnality. It's exciting for them. ~ Jennifer Ashley

In society, the object of conversation is of course entertainment and improvement, and it must, therefore, be adapted to the circle in which it is carried on, and must be neither too high nor too deep for the party at large, so that every one may contribute his share, just as pleasure, and to the best of his ability ~ Arthur Martine

He cut right through the layers of civilization, politeness, and social snobbery to some preternatural female sense that said, "Dominant male. Danger. Power. Sex." Why ~ Ilona Andrews

The bonds between ourselves and another person exists only in our minds. Memory as it grows fainter loosens them, and notwithstanding the illusion by which we want to be duped and which, out of love, friendship, politeness, deference, duty, we dupe other people, we exist alone. Man is the creature who cannot escape from himself, who knows other people only in himself, and when he asserts the contrary, he is lying. ~ Marcel Proust

Politeness responses you with the cheers of truthfulness. ~ Jeswant Gembali

Being treated with politeness, consideration, even respect is different from being treated as an equal. ~ Carol Lynn Pearson

We can have ethics and we can have honor and we can have loyalty," he insisted, "and every other key virtue we learned as humans." He was roaring at me under his breath, as the British so often do it, with a veneer of silvery politeness. ~ Anne Rice

The amount of force and violence necessary to board the train, for example was no less and no more than the amoount of politeness and consideration necessary to ensure that the cramped journey was as pleasant as possible afterwards. What is necessary? That was the unspoken but implied, and unavoidable question everywhere in India. ~ Gregory David Roberts

There is one thing that, more than any other, throws people absolutely off their balance - the thought that you are dependent upon them. This is sure to produce an insolent and domineering manner towards you. There are some people, indeed, who become rude if you enter into any kind of relation with them; for instance, if you have occasion to converse with them frequently upon confidential matters, they soon come to fancy that they can take liberties with you, and so they try and transgress the laws of politeness. This is why there are so few with whom you care to become more intimate, and why you should avoid familiarity with vulgar people. If a man comes to think that I am more dependent upon him than he is upon me, he at once feels as though I had stolen something from him; and his endeavor will be to have his vengeance and get it back. The only way to attain superiority in dealing with men, is to let it be seen that you are independent of them. ~ Arthur Schopenhauer

(Politeness is) a tacit agreement that people's miserable defects, whether moral or intellectual, shall on either side be ignored and not be made the subject of reproach. ~ Arthur Schopenhauer

Politeness must be cultivated, for the promptings of nature are eminently selfish, and courtesy and good-breeding are only attainable by effort and discipline. But even courtesy has limits where dignity should govern it, for when carried to excess, particularly in manner, it borders on sycophancy, which is almost as despicable as rudeness. ~ Arthur Martine

All Butcher's previous politeness was revealed as so much bad milk floating in a cup of welcome tea ... ~ Peter Carey

The crime rates would go right down, I think, if Americans stopped saying: 'Have a nice day,' to one another. At least it would stop me from contemplating violence; when people in shops & so on order me to have a nice day in this authoritarian way, I want to kill, kill, kill. When I mutter 'sod off' under my breath, they think it is a Russian Orthodox benediction. ~ Susannah Clapp

E-mail has some magical ability to turn off the politeness gene in a human being. ~ Jeff Bezos

Because he knew that for other people their own social obligations took precedence of the death of a
friend, and could put himself in her place by dint of his instinctive
politeness. ~ Marcel Proust

My rules are simple and clear. We must dispense with insincere politeness- that vapid veneer of untruth that smothers London drawing rooms. Our well-mannered social deceit must not die a private death but a court-ordered hanging in the public square. The archaic animal that is left will be a dangerous and hot-blooded thing. Unruly and impossible to predict. But alive. ~ Priya Parmar

I want minimum information given with maximum politeness. ~ Jackie Kennedy