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Judith Martin Quotes
Judith Martin Quotes
Judith Martin
American
Author
Born:
Sep 13
,
1938
Life
Manners
People
Work
You
Your
Related authors:
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Frederick Douglass
Helen Keller
Henry David Thoreau
Joyce Meyer
Mark Twain
Og Mandino
Zig Ziglar
'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
Life
You
Honesty
People
Rudeness
About
Between
Name
Talking
Insulting
Opinions
Cover
Candid
Quite
Often
Difference
Being
Social
Used
Social Life
When people start hurling insults at you, you know their minds are closed and there's no point in debating. You disengage yourself as quickly as possible from the situation.
Judith Martin
You
Yourself
People
Closed
Situation
Minds
Possible
No Point
Point
Know
Insults
Debating
Quickly
Start
It's far more impressive when others discover your good qualities without your help.
Judith Martin
Good
Others
Good Qualities
More
Qualities
Without
Discover
Impressive
Far
Your
Help
The greater the controversy, the more you need manners.
Judith Martin
You
Manners
More
Greater
Controversy
Need
The language of clothing is high symbolism and we all, in moments where we need to know this, realize it.
Judith Martin
Language
High
Know
Where
Clothing
Realize
Moments
Symbolism
Need
Honesty has come to mean the privilege of insulting you to your face without expecting redress.
Judith Martin
You
Honesty
Face
Come
Without
Insulting
Redress
Privilege
Expecting
Mean
Your
Etiquette is all human social behavior. If you're a hermit on a mountain, you don't have to worry about etiquette; if somebody comes up the mountain, then you've got a problem. It matters because we want to live in reasonably harmonious communities.
Judith Martin
You
Problem
Behavior
Somebody
Matters
Live
Hermit
Harmonious
Worry
About
Because
Got
Up
Mountain
Human
Want
Social
Then
Etiquette
Communities
Reasonably
I make a distinction between manners and etiquette - manners as the principles, which are eternal and universal, etiquette as the particular rules which are arbitrary and different in different times, different situations, different cultures.
Judith Martin
Manners
Distinction
Rules
Arbitrary
Between
Particular
Make
Principles
Cultures
Times
Situations
Different
Which
Eternal
Different Cultures
Etiquette
Different Times
Universal
We're now seeing email that people thought they had deleted showing up as evidence in court. You can't erase email. As that becomes more commonly realized, people will be a little wiser about what they type.
Judith Martin
You
People
Will
Thought
Type
Email
Evidence
Seeing
About
Deleted
More
Had
Wiser
Court
Becomes
Erase
Up
Commonly
Little
Realized
Showing
Showing Up
Now
If written directions alone would suffice, libraries wouldn't need to have the rest of the universities attached.
Judith Martin
Alone
Rest
Libraries
Would
Directions
Attached
Written
Suffice
Need
Universities
We already know that anonymous letters are despicable. In etiquette, as well as in law, hiring a hit man to do the job does not relieve you of responsibility.
Judith Martin
You
Man
Law
Job
Responsibility
Despicable
Relieve
Know
Well
Anonymous
Does
Hiring
Hit
Etiquette
Letters
You glance at an e-mail. You give more attention to a real letter.
Judith Martin
You
Give
More
Glance
Attention
Real
Letter
Chaperons don't enforce morality; they force immorality to be discreet.
Judith Martin
Immorality
Morality
Force
Discreet
Enforce
There are three social classes in America: upper middle class, middle class, and lower middle class.
Judith Martin
Class
Three
Classes
America
Upper
Middle
Middle Class
Social
Lower
Chaperons, even in their days of glory, were almost never able to enforce morality; what they did was to force immorality to be discreet. This is no small contribution.
Judith Martin
Immorality
Able
Morality
Small
Never
Almost
Days
Force
Glory
Were
Discreet
Contribution
Did
Enforce
Even
When a society abandons its ideals just because most people can't live up to them, behavior gets very ugly indeed.
Judith Martin
People
Ugly
Behavior
Live
Society
Indeed
Abandon
Ideals
Most
Because
Up
Very
Gets
Just
Just Because
Them
The mistake people keep making is that if they find a wonderful new tool, like email, they have to give up all others. They don't. You have simply added another very useful means to your communications repertoire.
Judith Martin
You
Mistake
People
Wonderful
Added
Others
Tool
Email
Find
Give
Simply
New
Like
Another
Making
Repertoire
Up
Very
Communications
Means
Your
Useful
Keep
My children did not go through a stage of being rude to their parents. I'm sorry if that sounds incredible.
Judith Martin
Rude
Parents
Sorry
Stage
Incredible
Through
Sounds
Go
Did
Being
Children
First. I began my career as a copy girl. and the White House coverage, for example, was in the then-Women's section. So it was social coverage. It wasn't news, although we often got rather startling news out of it.
Judith Martin
News
Girl
Example
First
White
White House
Section
Out
Rather
For Example
House
Although
Got
Coverage
Began
Often
Social
Copy
Career
Startling
People read informality as, 'Do whatever you feel like,' and whatever you feel like might be disastrous.
Judith Martin
You
People
Whatever
Feel
Like
Disastrous
Read
Might
Learn graceful ways of saying no and of pointing out that this pressure to do something is not in line with most people's wishes.
Judith Martin
Saying
People
Pressure
Ways
Out
Something
Pointing
Wishes
Most
Learn
Line
Graceful
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