Judith Martin Quotes
Judith Martin, better known by the pen name Miss Manners, is an American journalist, author, and etiquette authority.
(1938 - )
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A wedding invitation is sent by people who have been saying, "Do we have to ask them?" to people whose first response is, "How much do you think we have to spend on them?"
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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.
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Civilized life begins with a boiled egg sitting upright in an egg cup.
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Honesty has come to mean the privilege of insulting you to your face without expecting redress.
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Hypocrisy is not generally a social sin, but a virtue.
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If written directions alone would suffice, libraries wouldn't need to have the rest of the universities attached.
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If you put together all the ingredients that naturally attract children - sex, violence, revenge, spectacle and vigorous noise - what you have is grand opera.
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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.
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It's far more impressive when others discover your good qualities without your help.
[Self Confidence]
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Many people mistakenly think a new technology cancels out an old one.
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Miss Manners doubts that there is anything in the world like an elegantly dressed Bostonian lurching across the room and diving face first into a bowl of guacamole dip while simultaneously disengaging her bodice from her bosom. Therefore, Miss Manners has a wee bit of trouble preparing a general rule for dealing with this eventuality.
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Most people who work at home find they do not have the benefit of receptionists who serve as personal guards.
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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.
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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.
[Work]
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There are three social classes in America: upper middle class, middle class, and lower middle class.
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Traditionally, a luncheon is a lunch that takes an eon.
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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.
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We are born charming, fresh and spontaneous and must be civilized before we are fit to participate in society.
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When a society abandons its ideals just because most people can't live up to them, behavior gets very ugly indeed.
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When you're in love, you put up with things that, when you're out of love you cite.
[Positive]
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