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.

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

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

Adorable children are considered to be the general property of the human race. Rude children belong to their mothers.

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

The family dinner table is the cornerstone of civilization and those who 'graze' from refrigerators or in front of the television sets are doomed to remain in a state of savagery.

Ideological differences are no excuse for rudeness.

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

If you can't be kind, at least be vague.

When virtues are pointed out first, flaws seem less insurmountable.

Society cannot exist without etiquette ... It never has, and until our own century, everybody knew that.

For you she learned to wear a short black slipand red lipstick, how to order a glass of red wineand finish it. She learned to reach outas if to touch your arm and then nottouch it, changing the su

It’s only when you find God that you can discover your calling

If you want to protect me, prayer is just as powerful a weapon as that gun you carry.

One thing that has gone away from civil discussion in America is this idea that our neighbors are not out to ruin the world. We need to come at it from a civil place.

In order to see a fish you must watch the water

Those who are firm, enduring, simple and unpretentious are the nearest to virtue.

I came to the conclusion long ago that all life is six to five against.

Mr. Powell raised an eyebrow. 'I'm a librarian,' he said. 'I always know what I'm talking about.

My mom was always someone who if, even now, I say I met a certain famous person, she always says, "She's married to so and so!"

Over the vast plain I wander, observing a thousand strange and incredible and terrifying manifestations of the Bootstrap-lifting impulse.