46 Manners Quotes That Remind Us To Be Kind

There are three things Southerners take very seriously: fried food, college football, and good manners. These quotes about manners remind us why they are so important.

Whether you're looking for an insightful statement or a humorous quote, a lot has been said on the topic of good manners and proper etiquette. It's never too late to refresh your memory on a few Southern values or to learn something new. Check out some of our favorite quotes about the significance of polite manners.

Quotes About Politeness

• "Friends and good manners will carry you where money won't go." ⁠—Margaret Walker
• "Good manners will open doors that the best education cannot." ⁠—Clarence Thomas
• "Being considerate of others will take your children further in life than any college degree." ―Marian Wright Edelman
• "Politeness and consideration for others is like investing pennies and getting dollars back." ⁠—Thomas Sowell
• "Politeness is like an air-cushion—there may be nothing in it, but it wonderfully eases the joltings along the rough road of life." ⁠—H.W. Beecher

Quotes About Showing Respect

• "Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use." ⁠—Emily Post
• "Good manners are just a way of showing other people that we have respect for them." ⁠—Bill Kelly
• "When you know you can do something, and you feel good about yourself, you do not have to devalue others." ⁠—John Patrick Hickey
• "To learn etiquette, is actually learning how to see others, and respect them." ⁠—Yixing Zhang
• "Respect for ourselves guides our morals; respect for others guides our manners." ⁠—Laurence Sterne
• "Politeness [is] a sign of dignity, not subservience." ―Theodore Roosevelt

Quotes About Rudeness

• "Whoever one is, and wherever one is, one is always in the wrong if one is rude." ⁠—Maurice Baring
• "Good manners sometimes means simply putting up with other people's bad manners." ⁠—H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
• "Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength." ⁠—Eric Hoffer
• "Honesty in social life is often used as a cover for rudeness. But there is quite a difference between being candid in what you're talking about and people voicing their insulting opinions under the name of honesty." ⁠—Judith Martin
• "Speak with caution. Even if someone forgives harsh words you've spoken, they may be too hurt to ever forget them. Don't leave a legacy of pain and regret of things you never should have said." ⁠—Germany Kent
• "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." ⁠—Maya Angelou
• "Life is not so short but that there is always time enough for courtesy." —Ralph Waldo Emerson
• "The measure of good manners is how you treat those who don’t have any." –Unknown
• "There is no rest for the person who has envy, and there is no love for the person who has bad manners." —Ali ibn Abi Talib
• "There is no nobility with bad manners." —Ali ibn Abi Talib
• "The test of good manners is to be able to put up pleasantly with bad ones." —Wendell Willkie
• "Private problems don’t constitute an excuse for bad manners." –Margaret Millar
• "As a child, I was taught that it was bad manners to bring attention to yourself, and to never, ever make a spectacle of yourself … All of which I’ve earned a living doing." –Audrey Hepburn

Quotes About When To Keep Quiet

• "Politeness is the art of choosing among one's real thoughts." ⁠—Abel Stevens
• "Wisdom tells us that the best time for silence is when we are mad or upset." ⁠—John Patrick Hickey
• "Politeness is half good manners and half good lying." ⁠—Mary Wilson Little
• "The greater the controversy, the more you need manners." ⁠—Judith Martin
• "To disagree, one doesn't have to be disagreeable." ⁠—Barry M. Goldwater
• "If you happen to displease any of them, be always ready to make a frank apology. But the best way is to act with so much politeness, good manners, and circumspection, as never to have occasion to make any apology." —Alexander Hamilton
• "The line between the public life and the private life has been erased, due to the rapid decline of manners and courtesy. There is a certain crudeness and crassness that has suddenly become accepted behavior, even desirable." ―Fannie Flagg

Quotes On Etiquette

• "Let's not confuse traditional behaviors with good manners. The definition of etiquette is gender neutral⁠—it simply means we strive at all times to ensure a person in our company feels at ease." ⁠—Lynn Coady
• "Manners are the ability to put someone else at their ease...by turning any answer into another question." ⁠—Tina Brown
• "Consideration is the basis of etiquette, and it starts at home. If you can't show consideration to your spouse, child, or family member any consideration you show outside is shallow and a farce." ⁠—Chinha Raheja
• "Etiquette means behaving yourself a little better than is absolutely essential." ⁠—Will Cuppy
• "As is the case with all good things in life⁠—love, good manners, language, cooking⁠—personal creativity is required only rarely." ⁠—Leon Krier

Short Manners Quotes

• "Better good manners than good looks." –Proverb
• "Your mood should not dictate your manners." –Unknown
• "Good manners are made up of petty sacrifices." –Ralph Waldo Emerson
• "A parent can give a child no greater gift than good manners." –Hakim
• "Manners easily and rapidly mature into morals." –Horace Mann
• "Your wealth is your good manners." –Unknown
• "Who cares for your beauty if your manners are ugly." –Unknown
• "Good manners are ageless, priceless, and classless." –Diana Mather
• "Good manners and kindness are always in fashion." –Anonymous
• "Manners maketh man." –William of Wykeham