A man's own good breeding is the best security against other people's ill manners.
Good manners have much to do with emotions. To make them ring true, one must feel them, not merely exhibit them.
Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter which fork you use.
Good manners: The noise you don't make when you're eating soup.
Good manners is when you speak politely to an enraged dragon.
“A true gentleman is one that apologizes anyways, even though he has not offended a lady intentionally. He is in a class all of his own because he knows the value of a woman's heart.”
― Shannon L. Alder
“Respect for ourselves guides our morals; respect for others guides our manners”
― Laurence Sterne
“A dying culture invariably exhibits personal rudeness. Bad manners. Lack of consideration for others in minor matters. A loss of politeness, of gentle manners, is more significant than is a riot.”
― Robert A. Heinlein
Your mood should not dictate your manners.
“It is a wise thing to be polite; consequently, it is a stupid thing to be rude. To make enemies by unnecessary and willful incivility, is just as insane a proceeding as to set your house on fire. For politeness is like a counter--an avowedly false coin, with which it is foolish to be stingy.”
― Arthur Schopenhauer
“Life is short, but there is always time enough for courtesy.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The real test of good manners is to be able to put up with bad manners pleasantly.”
― Kahlil Gibran
“I'm making a list
I'm making a list of things I must say
For politeness,
And goodness and kindness and gentleness
Sweetness and rightness:
Hello
Pardon me
How are you?
Excuse me
Bless you
May I?
Thank you
Goodbye
If you know some that I've forgot,
Please stick them in you eye!”
― Shel Silverstein
“Be pretty if you can, be witty if you must, but be gracious if it kills you.”
― Elsie De Wolfe