Emily Post

Etiquette requires the presumption of good until the contrary is proved.

If you are hurt, whether in mind or body, don't nurse your bruises. Get up, and light-heartedly, courageously, good-temperedly, get ready for the next encounter.

To make a pleasant and friendly impression is not alone good manners, but equally good business.

An overdose of praise is like 10 lumps of sugar in coffee; only a very few people can swallow it.

Any child can be taught to be beautifully behaved with no effort greater than quiet patience and perseverance, whereas to break bad habits once they are acquired is a Herculean task.

Courtesy demands that you, when you are a guest, shall show neither annoyance nor disappointment--no matter what happens.

Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use.

Jealousy is the suspicion of one's own inferiority.

In popular houses where visitors like to go again and again, there is always a happy combination of some attention on the part of the hostess and the perfect freedom of the guests to occupy their time as they choose.

Manners are like primary colors, there are certain rules and once you have these you merely mix, i.e., adapt, them to meet changing situations.

The attributes of a great lady may still be found in the rule of the four S's: Sincerity, Simplicity, Sympathy, and Serenity.

Nothing is less important than which fork you use. Etiquette is the science of living. It embraces everything. It is ethics. It is honor.

The fault of bad taste is usually in over-dressing. Quality not effect, is the standard to seek for.

Whenever two people come together and their behavior affects one another, you have etiquette.

Manner is personality—the outward manifestation of one’s innate character and attitude toward life.

Ideal conversation must be an exchange of thought, and not, as many of those who worry most about their shortcomings believe, an eloquent exhibition of wit or oratory.