Judith Martin Quotes - Page 3

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• Indeed, Miss Manners has come to believe that the basic political division in this country is not between liberals and conservatives but between those who believe that they should have a say in the love lives of strangers and those who do not.

  Judith Martin

  Country, Believe, Love Life

  "Miss Manners Rescues Civilization". Book by Judith Martin, 1998.

  53 Copy quote

• the obligation to express gratitude deepens with procrastination. The longer you wait, the more effusive must be the thanks.

  Judith Martin

  Gratitude, Procrastination, Waiting

  Judith Martin (1996). “Miss Manners Rescues Civilization: From Sexual Harassment, Frivolous Lawsuits, Dissing, and Other Lapses in Civility”, Crown

  4 Copy quote

• It is not rude to turn off your telephone by switching it on to an answering machine, which is cheaper and less disruptive than ripping it out of the wall. Those who are offended because they cannot always get through when they seek, at their own convenience, to barge in on people are suffering from a rude expectation.

  Judith Martin

  Wall, People, Expectations

  Judith Martin (1990). “Miss Manners' Guide for the Turn-of-the-Millennium”, p.282, Simon and Schuster

  7 Copy quote

• There was no singles problem until singles got so single-minded that they stopped wasting time with anyone ineligible. Before that, it was understood that one of society's main tasks was matchmaking. People with lifelong friendships and ties to local nonprofessional organizations did not have to fear that isolation would accompany retirement, old age, or losing a spouse. Overburdened householders could count on the assistance not only of their own extended families, but of the American tradition of neighborliness.

  Judith Martin

  Retirement, Organization, Ties

  9 Copy quote

• . . . women were brought up to have only one set of manners. A woman was either a lady or she wasn't, and we all know what the latter meant. Not even momentary lapses were allowed; there is no female equivalent of the boys-will-be-boys concept.

  Judith Martin

  Boys, Female, Lapses

  Judith Martin (1996). “Common courtesy: in which Miss Manners solves the problem that baffled Mr. Jefferson”

  11 Copy quote

• There are three social classes in America: upper middle class, middle class, and lower middle class.

  Judith Martin

  Women, Class, America

  Judith Martin (1982). “Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior”, Scribner

  9 Copy quote

• 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.

  Judith Martin

  Reading, Passion, Years

  Judith Martin (2002). “Miss Manners' Guide to Rearing Perfect Children”, p.148, Simon and Schuster

  8 Copy quote

• It is a widespread and firm belief among guests that their departure is always a matter of distress to their hosts, and that in order to indicate that they have been pleasantly entertained, they must demonstrate an extreme unwillingness to allow the entertainment to conclude. This is not necessarily true.

  Judith Martin

  Order, Departure, Guests

  Judith Martin (1989). “Miss Manners' guide for the turn-of-the-millennium”

  14 Copy quote

• A lot of men got upset at the feminist movement because they had all the toys and we wanted some.

  Judith Martin

  Men, Feminist, Upset

  4 Copy quote

• Honesty is a virtue, but not the only one. If you're in a courtroom you need the whole truth and nothing but the truth; in the living room, sometimes you need anything but. Often.

  Judith Martin

  Honesty, Needs, Rooms

  9 Copy quote

• You can deny all you want that there is etiquette, and a lot of people do in everyday life. But if you behave in a way that offends the people you're trying to deal with, they will stop dealing with you...There are plenty of people who say, 'We don't care about etiquette, but we can't stand the way so-and-so behaves, and we don't want him around!' Etiquette doesn't have the great sanctions that the law has. But the main sanction we do have is in not dealing with these people and isolating them because their behavior is unbearable.

  Judith Martin

  Law, People, Everyday

  4 Copy quote

• The only way to enjoy the fun of catching people behaving disgustingly is to have children. One has to keep having them, however, because it is incorrect to correct grown people, even if you have grown them yourself.

  Judith Martin

  Children, Fun, People

  Judith Martin (1982). “Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior”, Scribner

  16 Copy quote

• The etiquette business has its emergencies, heaven knows, but it is in the nature of etiquette emergencies that once one realizes what one has done, it is too late. One might as well get a good night's sleep and send flowers with an apology in the morning.

  Judith Martin

  Good Night, Morning, Flower

  7 Copy quote

• Nowadays, we never allow ourselves the convenience of being temporarily unavailable, even to strangers. With telephone and beeper, people subject themselves to being instantly accessible to everyone at all times, and it is the person who refuses to be on call, rather than the importunate caller, who is considered rude.

  Judith Martin

  People, Rude, Telephones

  Judith Martin (1996). “Common courtesy: in which Miss Manners solves the problem that baffled Mr. Jefferson”

  52 Copy quote

• GENTLE READER: You, sir, are an anarchist, and Miss Manners is frightened to have anything to do with you. It is true that questioning the table manners of others is rude. But to overthrow the accepted conventions of society, on the flimsy grounds that you have found them silly, inefficient and discomforting, is a dangerous step toward destroying civilization.

  Judith Martin

  Silly, Civilization, Rude

  Judith Martin (1982). “Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior”, Scribner

  52 Copy quote

• In its natural state, the child tells the literal truth because it is too naive to think of anything else. Blurting out the complete truth is considered adorable in the young, right smack up to the moment that the child says, 'Mommy, is this the fat lady you can't stand?

  Judith Martin

  Children, Honesty, Thinking

  Judith Martin (2002). “Miss Manners' Guide to Rearing Perfect Children”, p.323, Simon and Schuster

  4 Copy quote

• To sacrifice the principles of manners, which require compassion and respect, and bat people over the head with their ignorance of etiquette rules they cannot be expected to know is both bad manners and poor etiquette. That social climbers and twits have misused etiquette throughout history should not be used as an argument for doing away with it.

  Judith Martin

  Ignorance, Sacrifice, Compassion

  Judith Martin (1996). “Miss Manners Rescues Civilization: From Sexual Harassment, Frivolous Lawsuits, Dissing, and Other Lapses in Civility”, Crown

  4 Copy quote

• We are all born rude. No infant has ever appeared yet with the grace to understand how inconsiderate it is to disturb others in the middle of the night.

  Judith Martin

  Night, Rude, Grace

  12 Copy quote

• Chaperons don't enforce morality; they force immorality to be discreet.

  Judith Martin

  Inspirational, Teenager, Morality

  7 Copy quote

• 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.

  Judith Martin

  Email, Fool, Postcards

  4 Copy quote

• Nowadays people consider it a disgrace to admit that they are not stressed.

  Judith Martin

  Women, People, Stressed

  4 Copy quote

• [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.

  Judith Martin

  Women, Loss, Reality

  4 Copy quote

• Yes, etiquette is hypocritical. Yes, it does inhibit children - if you're lucky. But the idea that it's elitist and irrelevant is like saying language is elitist and irrelevant.

  Judith Martin

  Children, Ideas, Doe

  4 Copy quote

• Nobody believes that the man who says, 'Look, lady, you wanted equality,' to explain why he won't give up his seat to a pregnant woman carrying three grocery bags, a briefcase, and a toddler is seized with the symbolism of idealism.

  Judith Martin

  Giving Up, Believe, Men

  Judith Martin (1996). “Common courtesy: in which Miss Manners solves the problem that baffled Mr. Jefferson”

  52 Copy quote

• Miss Manners does not mind explaining the finer points of gracious living, but she feels that anyone without the sense to pick up a potato chip and stuff it in their face should probably not be running around loose on the streets.

  Judith Martin

  Running, Missing, Mind

  "Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior". Book by Judith Martin, 1982.

  4 Copy quote

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