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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.

Judith Martin

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Judith Martin
Age: 86
Born: 1938
Born: September 13
Economist
Journalist
Washington
District of Columbia
Even
Contribution
Never
Morality
Glory
Days
Small
Discreet
Almost
Enforce
Force
Immorality
Able
Pregnancy

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It is said that dispensing advice is easy. What is difficult is getting anyone to listen to it.
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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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[after the death of a loved one] It is when there is nothing more to be done that the reality of the loss often hits with full force.
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You should resolve not to seek public approval of your private business, when you are not also prepared to accept public disapproval.
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The stress of making small talk with in-laws is called being part of a family.
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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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People think, mistakenly, that etiquette means you have to suppress your differences. On the contray, etiquette is what enables you to deal with them it gives you a set of rules.
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What you have when everyone wears the same playclothes for all occasions, is addressed by nickname, expected to participate in Show And Tell, and bullied out of any desire form privacy, is not democracy it is kindergarten.
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Visiting the sick is supposed to exhibit such great virtue that there are some people determined to do it whether the sick like it or not. ... All visitors everywhere are supposed to make plans to depart if they observe their hosts visibly wilting or in pain, but this is especially true at hospitals.
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Allowing an unimportant mistake to pass without a comment is a wonderful social grace ... Children who have the habit of constantly correcting should be stopped before they grow up to drive spouses and everyone else crazy by interrupting stories to say, 'No, dear -- it was Tuesday, not Wednesday.
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A lot of men got upset at the feminist movement because they had all the toys and we wanted some.
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The etiquette question that troubles so many fastidious people New Year's Day is: How am I ever going to face those people again?
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For email, the old postcard rule applies. Nobody else is supposed to read your postcards, but you'd be a fool if you wrote anything private on one.
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A small wedding is not necessarily one to which very few people are invited. It is one to which the person you are addressing is not invited.
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People will say, 'Seventy isn't old, it's middle-aged,' and I think, middle of what - 140?
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Learn graceful ways of saying no and of pointing out that this pressure to do something is not in line with most people's wishes.
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The truly essential bargain between host and guest requires the guest only to respond promptly, show up on time, socialize with other guests, thank the host, write additional thanks and reciprocate. You needn't bring anything.
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The more skillful the performance of false cheer, the more pleasing the effect is upon one's public and on that private audience to whom one owes even more.
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What restricts the use of the word 'lady' among the courteous is that it is intended to set a woman apart from ordinary humanity, and in the working world that is not a help, as women have discovered in many bitter ways.
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Try not to annoy your relatives unnecessarily.
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