Quotes on Courtesy

So, you are very welcome to our house. It must appear in other ways than words, Therefore, I scant this breathing courtesy.

Good breeding, a union of kindness and independence.

Those influences which really make and mar human happiness and greatness are beyond the reach of the law. The law can keep neighbors from trespassing, but it cannot put neighborly courtesy and good-will into their relations.

There is a courtesy of the heart; it is allied to love. From its springs the purest courtesy in the outward behavior.

Life is short but there is always time for courtesy.

Gratitude is a sign of maturity...Where there is appreciation: there is also courtesy and concern for the rights and property of others.

Japanese affection is not uttered in words; it scarcely appears even in the tone of voice; it is chiefly shown in acts of exquisite courtesy and kindness.

Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves.

It is most gratifying," it said, "that your enthusiasm for our planet continues unabated, and so we would like to assure you that the guided missiles currently converging with your ship are part of a special service we extend to all of our most enthusiastic clients, and the fully armed nuclear warheads are of course merely a courtesy detail. We look forward to your custom in future lives ... thank you.

True love blooms when we care more about another person than we care about ourselves. That is Christ's great atoning example for us, and it ought to be more evident in the kindness we show, the respect we give, and the selflessness and courtesy we employ in our personal relationships.

As the war was just in its origin and necessary and noble in its objects, we can reflect with a proud satisfaction that in carrying it on no principle of justice or honor, no usage of civilized nations, no precept of courtesy or humanity, have been infringed.

If each side had been frankly contending for its own real wish, they would all have kept within the bounds of reason and courtesy; but just because the contention is reversed and each side is fighting the other side’s battle, all the bitterness which really flows from thwarted self-righteousness and obstinacy and from the accumulated grudges of the last ten years is concealed from them by the nominal or official "Unselfishness" of what they are doing or, at least, held to be excused by it.

On matters beyond his ken a gentleman speaks with caution. If names are not right, words are misused. When words are misused, affairs go wrong. When affairs go wrong, courtesy and music droop, law and justice fail. And when law and justice fail them, a people can move neither hand nor foot. So a gentleman must be ready to put names in speech, to put words into deeds. A gentleman is nowise careless of words.

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

To be humble to superiors is a duty, to equals courtesy, to inferiors nobleness.

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.

Manners must adorn knowledge and smooth its way through the world.

There is a kind of courtesy in skepticism. It would be an offense against polite conventions to press our doubts too far.

The true greatness of a person, in my view, is evident in the way he or she treats those with whom courtesy and kindness are not required.

A man's own good breeding is the best security against other people's ill manners.

Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.