At a formal dinner party, the person nearest death should always be seated closest to the bathroom.

Look not at what is contrary to propriety; listen not to what is contrary to propriety; speak not what is contrary to propriety; make no movement which is contrary to propriety.

One does not leave a convivial party before closing time.

A grown man should always carry cash, right? I don’t know who told me, but someone told me that a long time ago, and the biggest turnoff is when a guy doesn’t have cash on him.

Somewhere it is written that parents who are critical of other people’s children and publicly admit they can do better are asking for it.

Discretion of speech is more than eloquence, and to speak agreeably to him with whom we deal is more than to speak in good words, or in good order.

Eat to please thyself, but dress to please others.

It is unbecoming for young men to utter maxims.

Being politically correct means saying what’s polite rather than what’s accurate. I like to be accurate.

It is impossible, in our condition of Society, not to be sometimes a Snob.

Shame may restrain what law does not prohibit.

T stands for being nice. T stands for manners. T stands for being polite.

Black men don’t like to be called ‚boys,‘ but women accept being called ‚girls.‘

Everyone likes flattery; and when you come to Royalty you should lay it on with a trowel.

Genteel women suppose that those things do not really exist about which it is impossible to talk in polite company.

If he invited you out, he’s got to pay.

I don’t have much patience for people who are self-conscious about the act of eating, and it irritates me when someone denies themselves the pleasure of a bloody hunk of steak or a pungent French cheese because of some outdated nonsense about what’s appropriate or attractive.

Like religion, politics, and family planning, cereal is not a topic to be brought up in public. It’s too controversial.

Courtesy is as much a mark of a gentleman as courage.

I didn’t just invent saying offensive things.

Questions are never indiscreet, answers sometimes are.

Chastity – the most unnatural of all the sexual perversions.

Politeness is, you know, is a wonderful thing. Manners are in fact, really important thing. But remember, Jesus didn’t have many manners as we now know.

All cultures have these feelings about non-functional areas of activity. And the more time people have on their hands, the more they commit it to those areas.

The notion that before you even set out to go to Thailand, you say, ‚I’m not interested,‘ or you’re unwilling to try things that people take so personally and are so proud of and so generous with, I don’t understand that, and I think it’s rude. You’re at Grandma’s house, you eat what Grandma serves you.

We are justified in enforcing good morals, for they belong to all mankind; but we are not justified in enforcing good manners, for good manners always mean our own manners.

Good breeding differs, if at all, from high breeding only as it gracefully remembers the rights of others, rather than gracefully insists on its own rights.

If you are ever in doubt as to whether to kiss a pretty girl, always give her the benefit of the doubt.

Fine manners need the support of fine manners in others.

People like me were supposed to be into exclusivity, unapproachable. That’s what I hate most. I think it’s very demode.

My mother always told me it wasn’t polite to ask what people make.

You know, you can make a small mistake in language or etiquette in Britain, or you could when I was younger, and really be made to feel it, and it’s the flick of a lash, but it would sting, and especially at school where there’s not much privacy, and so on. You could, yes, undoubtedly be made to feel crushed.

Good manners sometimes means simply putting up with other people’s bad manners.

Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days.

If the standard transsexual person wants to be regarded as he or she, my sense is I’ll address you according to the part that you appear to be playing.

It’s considered acceptable in our culture to approach perfect strangers, as often or not who may be in extremis, and evangelise. I don’t see why that’s considered a normal thing.

A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman’s birthday but never remembers her age.

Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.

It’s good sportsmanship to not pick up lost golf balls while they are still rolling.

It’s vulgar, coming from where I do, to talk about money.

If someone offers you a breath mint, accept it.

No person who is well bred, kind and modest is ever offensively plain; all real deformity means want for manners or of heart.

In America everybody is of the opinion that he has no social superiors, since all men are equal, but he does not admit that he has no social inferiors, for, from the time of Jefferson onward, the doctrine that all men are equal applies only upwards, not downwards.

I often look ridiculous in Japan. There’s really no way to eat in Japan, particularly kaiseki in a traditional ryokan, without offending the Japanese horribly. Every gesture, every movement is just so atrociously wrong, and the more I try, the more hilarious it is.

A man’s manners are a mirror in which he shows his portrait.

I didn’t attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.

Talk well of the absent whenever you have the opportunity.

Hostesses who entertain much must make up their parties as ministers make up their cabinets, on grounds other than personal liking.

I hold the door for the ladies – I’m a gent.

Never speak to an invalid from behind, nor from the door, nor from any distance from him, nor when he is doing anything. The official politeness of servants in these things is so grateful to invalids, that many prefer, without knowing why, having none but servants about them.

I don’t do any vulgar movements.

You aren’t normal if you sing to people. You aren’t a normal person. It’s nerve-racking.

The moral disapprobation of society has an impact on behavior in societies.

It’s very strange to go to cities like London and New York. People walk so quickly, they seem to be in a hurry all the time. And you don’t say ‚Hi‘ to everyone you meet, and you don’t smile to everyone you meet, because there’s just so many. Which is also very strange.

Good breeding consists in concealing how much we think of ourselves and how little we think of the other person.

If you ever see The Rock working out in the gym, don’t think you can just go up and disturb his workout and expect him to take a picture. He’s there to work, so kindly just pass the silverback on by or he’ll rip your face off.

A gentleman is never rude except on purpose – I can honestly be nasty sober, believe you me.

Dinner was made for eating, not for talking.

If we help an educated man’s daughter to go to Cambridge are we not forcing her to think not about education but about war? – not how she can learn, but how she can fight in order that she might win the same advantages as her brothers?

I don’t eat with beautiful women alone.

Campaign behavior for wives: Always be on time. Do as little talking as humanly possible. Lean back in the parade car so everybody can see the president.