Judith Martin Quotes (28 Quotes)



    We are born charming, fresh and spontaneous and must be civilized before we are fit to participate in society.

    Many people mistakenly think a new technology cancels out an old one.

    The invention of the teenager was a mistake. Once you identify a period of life in which people get to stay out late but don't have to pay taxes - naturally, nobody wants to live any other way.

    Honesty has come to mean the privilege of insulting you to your face without expecting redress.


    Most people who work at home find they do not have the benefit of receptionists who serve as personal guards.

    You do not have to do everything disagreeable that you have a right to do.

    It's like children getting new toys. But the excitement is over. People should be over it.

    If written directions alone would suffice, libraries wouldn't need to have the rest of the universities attached.

    Hypocrisy is not generally a social sin, but a virtue.

    It's far more impressive when others discover your good qualities without your help.

    When a society abandons its ideals just because most people can't live up to them, behavior gets very ugly indeed.

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

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

    Gentle reader Yes, the thing to do is to ignore it. A general rule of etiquette is that one apologizes for the unfortunate occurrence, but the unthinkable is unmentionable

    When you're in love, you put up with things that, when you're out of love you cite.

    Chaperons, even in their days of glory, were almost never able to enforce morality; what they did was to force immorality to be discreet. This is no small contribution.

    The dinner table is the center for the teaching and practicing not just of table manners but of conversation, consideration, tolerance, family feeling, and just about all the other accomplishments of polite society except the minuet.

    Ideological differences are no excuse for rudeness.

    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.

    Allowing an unimportant mistake to pass without comment is a wonderful social grace.

    If it's against state law, it's generally considered a breach of Etiquette.

    Children should acknowledge other people, saying 'hello,' 'good morning,' 'goodbye'. They should understand that there are times to sit down and be quiet. That's a prerequisite for school. They also need a respect for authority, the lack of which is a tremendous handicap in school.

    The simple idea that everyone needs a reasonable amount of challenging work in his or her life, and also a personal life, complete with noncompetitive leisure, has never really taken hold.

    Parents should conduct their arguments in quiet, respectful tones, but in a foreign language. You'd be surprised what an inducement that is to the education of children.

    What you have when everyone wears the same playclothes for all occasions, is addressed by nickname, expected to participate in Show And Tell, and bullied out of any desire form privacy, is not democracy it is kindergarten.

    We already know that anonymous letters are despicable. In etiquette, as well as in law, hiring a hit man to do the job does not relieve you of responsibility.

    You glance at an e-mail. You give more attention to a real letter.


    More Judith Martin Quotations (Based on Topics)


    Etiquette - People - Education - Life - Children - Respect - Love - Letters - Morality - Law & Regulation - Society & Civilization - Desire - Tolerance - Leisure - Success - Joy & Excitement - Home - Error & Mistake - Parents - View All Judith Martin Quotations

    Related Authors


    Virginia Woolf - Napolean Hill - Henry David Thoreau - H. G. Wells - Nora Roberts - Mary Higgins Clark - Lu Xun - Jules Verne - Joseph Campbell - Charles Bukowski


Authors (by First Name)

A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M
N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z

Other Inspiring Sections