Judith Martin
Judith Martin
Judith Martin, better known by the pen name Miss Manners, is an American journalist, author, and etiquette authority...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionJournalist
Date of Birth13 September 1938
CountryUnited States of America
believe kissing rude
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.
giving-up believe men
Nobody believes that the man who says, 'Look, lady, you wanted equality,' to explain why he won't give up his seat to a pregnant woman carrying three grocery bags, a briefcase, and a toddler is seized with the symbolism of idealism.
country believe love-life
Indeed, Miss Manners has come to believe that the basic political division in this country is not between liberals and conservatives but between those who believe that they should have a say in the love lives of strangers and those who do not
jobs work believe
One should not be assigned one's identity in society by the job slot one happens to fill. If we truly believe in the dignity of labor, any task can be performed with equal pride because none can demean the basic dignity of a human being.
friendship believe mean
Perhaps the greatest rudenesses of our time come not from the callousness of strangers, but from the solicitousness of intimates who believe that their frank criticisms are always welcome, and who feel free to "be themselves" with those they love, which turns out to mean being their worst selves, while saving their best behavior for strangers.
people
People read informality as, 'Do whatever you feel like,' and whatever you feel like might be disastrous.
children sounds stage
My children did not go through a stage of being rude to their parents. I'm sorry if that sounds incredible.
american-author civilized fit fresh society
We are born charming, fresh and spontaneous and must be civilized before we are fit to participate in society.
fear obviously
Obviously I'm going to be polite, so nobody has anything to fear from me.
clothing high realize
The language of clothing is high symbolism and we all, in moments where we need to know this, realize it.
added means people simply useful wonderful
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.
life paying personal presents whom
Presents are symbolic. When you give them in your personal life, they should show that you are paying attention to the person to whom you're giving them.
becomes commonly deleted erase evidence people showing wiser
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.
freedom unless work
Freedom without rules doesn't work. And communities do not work unless they are regulated by etiquette.