Jonathan Swift
Satirist, Writer
"'Tis happy for him that his Father was born before him."
Polite quotes
Polite
79 quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Stephen King
Author
"In polite society, we call our obsessions hobbies."
Billy Graham
Evangelist, Author
"When thanksgiving is filled with true meaning and is not just the formality of a polite 'thank you,' it is the recognition of dependence."
Robert A. Heinlein
Science Fiction Author
"For me, politeness is a sine qua non of civilization."
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Writer
"Politeness is a desire to be treated politely, and to be esteemed polite oneself."
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Polite quotes (page 1 of 4)
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"A community where everyone is a ruthless murderer, with handy access to death-dealing devices, is a very polite community."
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"An insolent reply from a polite person is a bad sign."
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"I think I've realized that business and being polite [don't] match. You can be fair, but me being polite was not me being fair to myself."
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"I ain't saying you're a liar, because that wouldn't be polite. But I'll tell you this, ma'am. If I loved liars, I'd hug you to death."
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"I have seen people rude by being over-polite."
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"Do what comes into your life and do it well... Be polite without groveling. If you are ever afraid of anything, do not deny it, but behave as if you feared nothing."
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"Be polite to all, but intimate with few."
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"Every compulsion is put upon writers to become safe, polite, obedient, and sterile."
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"If you intend to write as truthfully as you can, your days as a member of polite society are numbered."
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"A question is a polite way of demanding something."
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"We pretend that no one's a racist anymore, but it's easier to talk about pornography in polite company than racial integration"
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"I will die for the art & what I believe in. The art ain't always gon' be polite."
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"Baltimore is warm but pleasant... I belong here, where everything is civilized and gay and rotted and polite."
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"Genteel women suppose that those things do not really exist about which it is impossible to talk in polite company."
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"My only hope was to be polite."
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"...Everyone had to eat, but eating people wasn't polite."
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"When one is polite in German, one lies."
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