Courtesy Proverbs

Sayings about Courtesy


An excess of courtesy is discourtesy. ~ Japanese Proverbs

When we are saluted with a salutation, the person with a better salutation, or at least return the same, for God taketh an account of all things. ~ The Holy Koran

If everyone were allowed to take from the world all her heart desired, there would be nothing left for anyone else. ~ Yiddish Proverb

Courtesy never offended anybody. ~ Chinese Proverbs

Courtesy should be a continuous action, not something to be turned on and off like a faucet. ~ Saying

Courtesy is contagious. Start an epidemic. ~ Saying

To speak kindly does not hurt the tongue. ~ Saying

The measure of a truly great man is the courtesy with which he treats lesser men. ~ Saying

Quotations about Courtesy

If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world. ~ Francis Bacon

Gratitude is the most exquisite form of courtesy. ~ Jacques Maritain

Nothing is ever lost by courtesy. It is the cheapest of the pleasures; costs nothing and conveys much. It pleases him who gives and ;him who receives, and thus, like mercy, it is twice blessed. ~ Erastus Wiman

What fairer cloak than courtesy for fraud? ~ William Alexander

It is better to have too much courtesy than too little, provided you are not equally courteous to all, for that would be injustice. ~ Baltasar Gracian

There is a courtesy of the heart; it is allied to love. From it springs the purest courtesy in the outward behavior. ~ Goethe

All doors open to courtesy. ~ Thomas Fuller

Intelligence and courtesy not always are combined; Often in a wooden house a golden room we find. ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Courtesies cannot be borrowed like snow shovels; you must have some of your own. ~ John Wanamaker

His courtesy was somewhat extravagant. He would write and thank people who wrote to thank him for wedding presents and when he encountered anyone as punctilious as himself the correspondence ended only with death. ~ Evelyn Waugh

As the sword of the best-tempered metal is the most flexible; so the truly generous are most pliant and courteous in their behavior to their inferiors. ~ Thomas Fuller

The whole of heraldry and of chivalry is in courtesy. A man of fine manners shall pronounce your name with all the ornament that titles of nobility could ever add. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

By a union courtesy and talent an adversary may be made to grace his own defeat, as the sandal-tree perfumes the hatchet that cuts it down. ~ Paul Chatfield

Courtesy is a duty public servants owe to the humblest member of the public. ~ Lord Edward Robert Bulwer Lytton

Courtesy is as much a mark of a gentleman as courage. ~ Theodore Roosevelt

We must be courteous to a man as we are to a picture, which we are willing to give the advantage of a good light. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Courtesy and good humor are often found with little real worth. ~ Samuel Johnson

Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart. ~ Henry Clay

Whilst thou livest, keep a good tongue in thy head. ~ William Shakespeare

The whole art of life is knowing the right time to say things. ~ Maeve Binchy

A churlish courtesy rarely comes but either for gain or falsehood. ~ Sir Philip Sidney

I am the very pink of courtesy. ~ William Shakespeare

The small courtesies sweeten life; the greater ennoble it. ~ Christian Nestell Bovee

High erected thoughts seated in a heart of courtesy. ~ Sir Philip Sidney

Hail! ye small sweet courtesies of life, for smooth do ye make the road of it, like grace and beauty, which beget inclinations to love at first sight; it is ye who open the door and let the stranger in. ~ Laurence Sterne

If ever I should affect injustice, it would be in this, that I might do courtesies and receive none. ~ Owen Felltham

Approved valor is made precious by natural courtesy. ~ Sir Philip Sidney

There can be no defense like elaborate courtesy. ~ E. V. Lucas

It takes no more time to be courteous than to be rude. ~ Ann Landers

Life is short, but there is always time for courtesy. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

O dissembling courtesy! how fine this tyrant can tickle where she wounds! ~ William Shakespeare

I once knew a man out of courtesy help a lame dog over a stile, and he for requital bit his fingers. ~ William Chillingworth

Courtesy is the one coin you can never have too much of or be stingy with. ~ John Wanamaker

Nothing costs less nor is cheaper than compliments of civility. ~ Cervantes

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Saying about Courtesy


The Principles of Courtesy: With Hints and Observations of Manners ... ~ Book preview