Build on the flanks of Etna where the sullen smoke-puffs float- Or bath in tropic waters where the lean fin dogs the boat- Cock the gun that is not loaded, cook the frozen dynamite- But oh, beware my Country, when my Country grows polite!
Politeness Quotes
Politeness, n. The most acceptable hypocrisy.
When you have to kill a man it costs nothing to be polite.
Politeness is the art of choosing among your thoughts.
An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.
Moving parts in rubbing contact require lubrication to avoid excessive wear. Honorifics and formal politeness provide lubrication where people rub together. Often the very young, the untraveled, the naive, the unsophisticated deplore these formalities as “empty,” – “meaningless,” or “dishonest,” and scorn to use them. No matter how “pure” their motives, they thereby throw sand […]
When a man is trying to sell you something, don’t imagine that he is polite all the time.
Among well-bred people a mutual deference is affected, contempt for others is disguised; authority concealed; attention given to each in his turn; and an easy stream of conversation maintained without vehemence, without interruption, without eagerness for victory, and without any airs of superiority.
Be polite to all, but intimate with few.
A cat is never vulgar.
