Good breeding consists of concealing how much we think of ourselves and how little we think of the other person.

politics knowledge self-centeredness politeness

About Mark Twain

Portrait of Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He has been praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced", with William Faulkner calling him "the father of American literature". Twain's novels include...

More quotations from Mark Twain

All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"—a strange complaint to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.

All generalizations are false, including this one.

The report of my death was an exaggeration.

Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody.

The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.

More quotations tagged with “politeness”

Politeness doesn't require actual humanity. It's just cultural ritual. Kindness means you actually care and have good intentions toward a person. It means you think about them as much as you think about yourself.

—Karen Kilgariff in Stay Sexy & Don't Get Murdered

humanity politeness care ritual

You must be very polite with yourself when you are learning something new.

—Elizabeth Gilbert in Love

learning self-love politeness

It is one thing to decry the rat race.… That is the good and honorable work of moralists. It is quite another thing to quit the rat race, to drop out, to refuse to run any further—that is the work of the individualist. It is offensive because it is impolite; it makes the rebuke personal; the individualist calls not his or her behavior into question, but mine.

—Paul Gruchow

morality politeness rat race quitting individualism offense

If cats could talk, they wouldn’t.

cats animals politeness

History

30 Jan 2019 Added