Judith Martin Rude Quotations

Miss Manners herself, while never rude, is given to pulling a fast pinch in the way of a handshake on those who believe in kissing on, not even the first date, but the first sighting.

GENTLE READER: You, sir, are an anarchist, and Miss Manners is frightened to have anything to do with you. It is true that questioning the table manners of others is rude. But to overthrow the accepted conventions of society, on the flimsy grounds that you have found them silly, inefficient and discomforting, is a dangerous step toward destroying civilization.

The way one was brought up isn't an excuse for rude behavior.

When politeness is used to show up other people, it is reclassified as rudeness. Thus it is technically impossible to be too polite.

There are always proper responses, even to rude questions.

When someone has tried to please you, it is rude, as well as disheartening, to respond by announcing that the effort was a failure.

Nowadays, we never allow ourselves the convenience of being temporarily unavailable, even to strangers. With telephone and beeper, people subject themselves to being instantly accessible to everyone at all times, and it is the person who refuses to be on call, rather than the importunate caller, who is considered rude.

We are all born rude. No infant has ever appeared yet with the grace to understand how inconsiderate it is to disturb others in the middle of the night.

Ideological differences are no excuse for rudeness.