The rationale that etiquette should be eschewed because it fosters inequality does not ring true in a society that openly admits to a feverish interest in the comparative status-conveying qualities of sneakers. Manners are available to all, for free.

I have often found this to be true since, that matters which seem terribly important in the early days of such a journey (what will people back home say?) fade into triviality with the passage of time.

Reading at meals is considered rude in polite society, but if you expect to succeed as a writer, rudeness should be the second-to-least of your concerns. The least of all should be polite society and what it expects.

It's harder to pick and choose when you're dead. It's like a photograph, you know. It doesn't matter as much.

I was raised right — I talk about people behind their backs. It's called manners.

The hardest job kids face today is learning good manners without seeing any.

Be careful not to impart your wisdom to a guest whose background you do not know. You may be instructing a Nobel Laureate in his own field.

There are times not to flirt. When you're sick. When you're with children. When you're on the witness stand.

If I had time to clean up the mess, I'd shoot you.