127 Courtesy Quotes

Following is our list of courtesy quotations and slogans full of insightful wisdom and perspective about kindness and courtesy.

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Famous Courtesy Quotes

Courtesy is a silver lining around the dark clouds of civilization; it is the best part of refinement and in many ways, an art of heroic beauty in the vast gallery of man's cruelty and baseness. — Bryant H. McGill

Courtesy is a silver lining around the dark clouds of civilization; it is the best part of refinement and, in many ways, an art of heroic beauty in the vast gallery of man's cruelty and baseness. — Bryant H. McGill

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

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

Courtesy costs nothing, but buys everything. - Ali ibn Abi Talib

Courtesy costs nothing, but buys everything. — Ali ibn Abi Talib

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

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

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

Nothing is ever lost by courtesy. It is the cheapest of pleasures, costs nothing, and conveys much. — Erastus Wiman

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

Every human being is entitled to courtesy and consideration. Constructive criticism is not only to be expected but sought. — Margaret Chase Smith

A compliance with the minutiae of military courtesy is a mark of well-disciplined troops. — John A. Lejeune

Punctuality is the stern virtue of men of business, and the graceful courtesy of princes. — Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton

Remember that you must always have a deep regard for courtesy, and you must be respectful and obedient toward your seniors. — Gichin Funakoshi

Be courteous to all, but intimate with few. — George Washington

The only true source of politeness is consideration. - William Gilmore Simms

The only true source of politeness is consideration. — William Gilmore Simms

Civility costs nothing. — Proverbs

Short Courtesy Quotes

  • The path of Martial Arts begins and ends with courtesy. So be genuinely polite on every occasion. — Mas Oyama
  • He who plants kindness gathers love. — Saint Basil
  • He who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love. — St. Basil
  • You can never have too much, butter. — Julie Powell
  • Courtesy costs nothing. — Vietnamese Proverbs
  • You can never have too much money. — Jess C Scott
  • You can never have too much sky. — Sandra Cisneros
  • Intelligence and courtesy not always are combined; Often in a wooden house a golden room we find. — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
  • Karate-do begins with courtesy and ends with rei. — Gichin Funakoshi
  • Though I be but prince of Wales, yet I am the king of courtesy. — William Shakespeare

Courtesy Image Quotes

Courtesy quote Gratitude is the most exquisite form of courtesy.
Gratitude is the most exquisite form of courtesy.

Respect And Courtesy Quotes

Real success requires respect for and faithfulness to the highest human values-honesty, integrity, self-discipline, dignity, compassion, humility, courage, personal responsibility, courtesy, and human service. — Michael E. DeBakey

True love blooms when we care more about another person than we care about ourselves. That is Christ's great atoning example for us, and it ought to be more evident in the kindness we show, the respect we give, and the selflessness and courtesy we employ in our personal relationships. — Jeffrey R. Holland

A husband should always try to treat his wife with the greatest courtesy and respect, holding her in the highest esteem. He should speak to her in a kind and a soft manner, showing his love by word and deed. As she feels this love and tenderness she will mirror it and return it tenfold. — James E. Faust

The characteristic of a well-bred man is, to converse with his inferiors without insolence, and with his superiors with respect and with ease. — Doug Stanhope

I hate feeling late. Someone else has the courtesy and respect to show up on time, and when I'm late, it's like telling them, "I don't respect you." Worst feeling in the world. It makes you really reflect on your priorities. — Matthew Moy

If you go out on a date, for the first date, a guy should pay, a guy should be respectful and, you know, I'm not saying roll out a red carpet, but, like, open the door and just be polite and just have common courtesy. I don't think that's too much to ask. — Carly Aquilino

Home should be a haven of love. Honor, courtesy, and respect symbolize love and characterize the righteous family. — Thomas S. Monson

Kindness And Courtesy Quotes

A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love. — St. Basil

Common courtesy plays a big role in happy marriages. People who are permanently married are polite to one another. They don't want to hurt one another's feelings, and they don't try to make the other one feel humiliated. People who are married for life are extremely kind to one another. — Frank Pittman

"In life you can never be too kind or too fair; everyone you meet is carrying a heavy load. When you go through your day expressing kindness and courtesy to all you meet, you leave behind a feeling of warmth and good cheer, and you help alleviate the burdens everyone is struggling with." — Brian Tracy

They who sow courtesy reap friendship, and they who plant kindness gather love. — Saint Basil

Little kindness and courtesies are so important. In relationships, the little things are the big things. — Stephen Covey

Kind words cost no more than unkind ones . . . and we may scatter the seeds of courtesy and kindliness around us at so little expense. If you would fall into any extreme let it be on the side of gentleness. The human mind is so constructed that it resists vigor and yields to softness. — Sayings

I deserted the world and sought solitude because I became tired of rendering courtesy to those multitudes who believe that humility is a sort of weakness, and mercy a kind of cowardice, and snobbery a form of strength. — Kahlil Gibran

The happiness of life may be greatly increased by small courtesies in which there is no parade, whose voice is too still to tease, and which manifest themselves by tender and affectionate looks, and little kind acts of attention. — Laurence Sterne

I believe in courtesy, in kindness, in generosity, in good cheer, in friendship and in honest competition. I believe there is something doing somewhere, for every man ready to do it. I believe I'm ready, RIGHT NOW. — Elbert Hubbard

He who sows courtesy reaps friendship. — Saint Basil

Courtesy Manners Quotes

Being nice should never be perceived as being weak. It's not a sign of weakness, it's a sign of courtesy, manners, grace, a woman's ability to make everyone...feel at home, and it should never be construed as weakness. — Benazir Bhutto

Courtesy, modesty, good manners, conformity to definite ethical standards are universal, but what constitutes courtesy, modesty, good manners, and definite ethical standards is not universal. It is instructive to know that standards differ in the most unexpected ways. — Franz Boas

A man who opens a door for a woman or gives up his seat for her-even offering to carry something! Those are country manners that never go out of style. — Andie MacDowell

Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. — Emily Post

The greater man the greater courtesy. — Alfred Lord Tennyson

The line between the public life and the private life has been erased, due to the rapid decline of manners and courtesy. There is a certain crudeness and crassness that has suddenly become accepted behavior, even desirable. — Fannie Flagg

Custom is a mutable thing; yet we readily recognize the permanence of certain social values. Graciousness and courtesy are never old-fashioned. — Emily Post

Politeness is the art of choosing among your thoughts. — Madame de Stael

Politeness requires this thing; decorum that; ceremony has its forms, and fashion its laws, and these must always follow, never the promptings of our own nature. — Henri Rousseau

Children are natural mimics who act like their parents despite every effort to teach them good manners. — Mark Twain

Common Courtesy Quotes

A woman may be beautiful but have poor character. A man may be a business genius, making money left and right, but lack common courtesy, sensitivity, and compassion. — Myles Munroe

Respect is more than giving consideration of one's feelings. It is showing common courtesy for another human being. — Tom Baker

Under bad manners, as under graver faults, lies very commonly an overestimate of our special individuality, as distinguished from our generic humanity. — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

How sweet and gracious, even in common speech, Is that fine sense which men call Courtesy! Wholesome as air and genial as the light, Welcome in every clime as breath of flowers, It transmutes aliens into trusting friends, And gives its owner passport round the globe. — James Thomas Fields

To talk of prayer after admitting he professed no faith was, in my opinion, a breach of common courtesy. In this sense, he did make a social blunder, for which I think he well deserved some minor castigation. — Kenzaburo Oe

O, when the heart is, full, when bitter thoughts come crowding thickly up for utterance, and the poor common words of courtesy are such a very mockery, how much the bursting heart may pour itself in prayer! — Nathaniel Parker Willis

I think dating courtesies are common courtesies that should be practiced in most all civilized encounters. I pine for the days of good, old-fashioned manners. — Karen Marie Moning

I understand the power of symbols, and if I had anything on my house that seriously offended someone, I'd take it down if for no other reason than common courtesy. — Charles Barkley

People say 'Why would you learn Dutch? Nobody speaks it. Why not French?' Even the Dutch say that to me! I say because I want to live here, I think it's only common courtesy that I speak the language. — Anthony Geary

Never call your broker on Monday. Out of courtesy and common sense, wait until Tuesday. A good broker is focused on the opening of the market - at home and around the world - and on getting back into a business frame of mind after the weekend. — Nancy Dunnan

No Courtesy Quotes

If kindness has falseness at its base, it is no longer kindness. It is labored courtesy. — Piero Ferrucci

No one is more insufferable than he who lacks basic courtesy. — Bryant H. McGill

Courtesy demands that you, when you are a guest, shall show neither annoyance nor disappointment--no matter what happens. — Emily Post

When music and courtesy are better understood and appreciated, there will be no war. — Confucius

No use to preach to the working-man courtesy & politeness when at the same time the working-man is not given working conditions under which he can stay polite and soft-mannered. — B. Traven

There is no outward sign of true courtesy that does not rest on a deep moral foundation. — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I know no religion that destroys courtesy, civility, and kindness. — William Penn

A moral, sensible, and well-bred manWill not affront me, and no other can. — William Cowper

It's one thing, holding open the door for someone at a grocery store, or the library, or just about anyplace else. But the doughnut shop is a different thing altogether. This is a get-in-and-out-as-fast-as-you-can operation. There's no room for courtesy or chivalry here. — Linwood Barclay

No man gains credit for his cowardly courtesies. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Courteous Quotes

Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetery. — Malcolm X

You will accomplish more by kind words and a courteous manner than by anger or sharp rebuke, which should never be used except in necessity. — Angela Merici

Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. — George Washington

Don't just show kindness in passing or to be courteous. Show it in depth, show it with passion, and expect nothing in return. Kindness is not just about being nice; it's about recognizing another human being who deserves care and respect. — Colin Powell

Conferences at the top level are always courteous. Name-calling is left to the foreign ministers. — W. Averell Harriman

Perfume is a form of writing, an ink, a choice made in the first person, the dot on the i, a weapon, a courteous gesture, part of the instant, a consequence. — Serge Lutens

A kind, courteous Christian is the most powerful argument in favor of the gospel that can be produced. — Ellen G. White

My parents were very strict about manners and being polite to others. I brought my own children up that way, too. — Mary Berry

Really big people are, above everything else, courteous, considerate and generous -- not just to some people in some circumstances -- but to everyone all the time. — Thomas J. Watson

Really big people are, above everything else, courteous, considerate and generous - not just to some people in some circumstances - but to everyone all the time. — Thomas J. Watson

People Writing About Courtesy

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Read quotes by Bryant H. McGill

Bryant H. McGill
quotes on leadership, life and education

1293 4786
Read quotes by Gichin Funakoshi

Gichin Funakoshi
quotes on leadership, friendship and education

52 2129
Read quotes by John Wanamaker

John Wanamaker
quotes on education, leadership and life

22 227
Read quotes by Ali ibn Abi Talib

Ali ibn Abi Talib
quotes on love, friendship and life

158 13517
Read quotes by Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt
quotes on leadership, imperialism and nature

752 11364
Read quotes by Jacques Maritain

Jacques Maritain
quotes on education, religion and life

70 518

More Courtesy Quotes

Courtesy should be apparent in all our actions and words and in all aspects of daily life. But be courtesy, I do not mean rigid, cold formality. Courtesy in the truest sense is selfless concern for the welfare and physical and mental comfort of the other person. — Mas Oyama

Six essential qualities that are the key to success: Sincerity, personal integrity, humility, courtesy, wisdom, charity. — William C. Menninger

What can educators do to foster real intelligence?.. .We can attempt to teach the things that one might imagine the earth would teach us: silence, humility, holiness, connectedness, courtesy, beauty, celebration, giving, restoration, obligation, and wildness. — David W. Orr

There are very many characteristics which go into making a model civil servant. Prominent among them are probity, industry, good sense, good habits, good temper, patience, order, courtesy, tact, self-reliance, many deference to superior officers, and many consideration for inferiors. — Chester A. Arthur

Every ordinary thing in your life is a word of God's love: your home, your work, the clothes you wear, the air you breathe, the food you eat.... the flowers under your feet are the courtesy of God's heart flung down on You! All these things say one thing only: "See how I love you." — Caryll Houselander

The language of the younger generation has the brutality of the city and an assertion of threatening power at hand, not to come. It is military, theatrical, and at its most coherent probably a lasting repudiation of empty courtesy and bureaucratic euphemism. — Elizabeth Hardwick

I place a high moral value on the way people behave. I find it repellent to have a lot, and to behave with anything other than courtesy in the old sense of the word -- politeness of the heart, a gentleness of the spirit. — Emma Thompson

I place a high moral value on the way people behave. I find it repellent to have a lot, and to behave with anything other than courtesy in the old sense of the word - politeness of the heart, a gentleness of the spirit. — Fran Lebowitz

At every moment of his life the Shoshone must be careful to observe the complicated folkways of his group, to do reverence to superhuman powers, to remember the courtesies and obligations of family, to pay homage to certain sacred plants, or to avoid particular places. — Peter Farb

It is impossible to practice parliamentary politics without having patience, decency, politeness and courtesy. — Khaleda Zia

Ingratitude is a nail which, driven into the tree of courtesy, causes it to wither; it is a broken channel, by which the foundations of the affections are undermined; and a lump of soot, which, falling into the dish of friendship, destroys its scent and flavor. — Giambattista Basile

President David O. McKay (1873-1970) observed that too many couples come to "marriage looking upon the marriage ceremony as the end of courtship instead of the beginning of an eternal courtship. ... Love can be starved to death as literally as the body that receives no sustenance. Love feeds upon kindness and courtesy" — David O. Mckay

All places where women are excluded tend downward to barbarism; but the moment she is introduced, there come in with her courtesy, cleanliness, sobriety, and order. — Harriet Beecher Stowe

Lobbying' is the activity of attempting to influence legislation by privately influencing the legislators. It is the result and creation of a mixed economy-of government by pressure groups. Its methods range from mere social courtesies and cocktail-party or luncheon "friendships" to favors, threats, bribes, blackmail. — Ayn Rand

Schisms do not originate in a love of truth, which is a source of courtesy and gentleness, but rather in an inordinate desire for supremacy. — Baruch Spinoza

In Conclusion

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