Quote

I make a distinction between manners and etiquette - manners as the principles, which are eternal and universal, etiquette as the particular rules which are arbitrary and different in different times, different situations, different cultures.

Judith Martin

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Judith Martin
Age: 86
Born: 1938
Born: September 13
Economist
Journalist
Washington
District of Columbia
Situation
Situations
Times
Distinction
Culture
Manners
Different
Rules
Make
Universal
Eternal
Etiquette
Principles
Arbitrary
Particular
Cultures

More quotes by Judith Martin

Image
When a society abandons its ideals just because most people can't live up to them, behavior gets very ugly indeed.
Judith Martin
Image
We have the reverse of the Puritan work ethic in America now. No one ever becomes a star by plugging along year after year. What is needed is flair, talent, 'an eye,' contacts, charisma, and, most of all, naturalness.
Judith Martin
Image
It is one of Miss Manners's great discoveries that one needn't contradict others in order to set them straight.
Judith Martin
Image
The dinner table is the center for the teaching and practicing not just of table manners but of conversation, consideration, tolerance, family feeling, and just about all the other accomplishments of polite society except the minuet.
Judith Martin
Image
The etiquette question that troubles so many fastidious people New Year's Day is: How am I ever going to face those people again?
Judith Martin
Image
We are born charming fresh and spontaneous and must be civilized before we are fit to participate in society.
Judith Martin
Image
many of the guests will eventually leave the table to watch football on television, which would be a rudeness at any other occasion but is a relief at Thanksgiving and probably the only way to get those people to budge.
Judith Martin
Image
A young lady is a female child who has just done something dreadful.
Judith Martin
Image
It's far more impressive when others discover your good qualities without your help.
Judith Martin
Image
Try not to annoy your relatives unnecessarily.
Judith Martin
Image
Smart people duck when they hear the dread announcement 'I'm going to be perfectly honest with you.
Judith Martin
Image
People will say, 'Seventy isn't old, it's middle-aged,' and I think, middle of what - 140?
Judith Martin
Image
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.
Judith Martin
Image
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.
Judith Martin
Image
Generosity and gratitude are inseparably linked.
Judith Martin
Image
One should not be assigned one's identity in society by the job slot one happens to fill. If we truly believe in the dignity of labor, any task can be performed with equal pride because none can demean the basic dignity of a human being.
Judith Martin
Image
You do not have to do everything disagreeable that you have a right to do
Judith Martin
Image
You should resolve not to seek public approval of your private business, when you are not also prepared to accept public disapproval.
Judith Martin
Image
The simple idea that everyone needs a reasonable amount of challenging work in his or her life, and also a personal life, complete with noncompetitive leisure, has never really taken hold.
Judith Martin
Image
Washington knows that it is not safe to kick people who are down until you find out what their next stop will be.
Judith Martin