[after The Death Of A Loved One]

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.

One Reason That The Task Of Inventing Manners Is So Difficult Is That Etiquette Is Folk Custom, And People Have Emotional Ties To The Forms Of Their Youth. That Is Why There Is Such Hostility Between Generations In Times Of Rapid Change; Their Manners Being Different, Each Feels Affronted By The Other, Taking Even The Most Surface Choices For Challenges.

It Is One Of Miss Manners's Great Discoveries That One Needn't Contradict Others In Order To Set Them Straight.

Chaperons Don't Enforce Morality; They Force Immorality To Be Discreet.

Miss Manners Does Not Mind Explaining The Finer Points Of Gracious Living, But She Feels That Anyone Without The Sense To Pick Up A Potato Chip And Stuff It In Their Face Should Probably Not Be Running Around Loose On The Streets.