Everybody's An Art Critic.

Shame Is The Proper Reaction When One Has Purposefully Violated The Accepted Behavior Of Society. Inflicting It Is Etiquette's Response When Its Rules Are Disobeyed. The Law Has All Kinds Of Nasty Ways Of Retaliating When It Is Disregarded, But Etiquette Has Only A Sense Of Social Shame To Deter People From Treating Others In Ways They Know Are Wrong. So Naturally Miss Manners Wants To Maintain The Sense Of Shame. Some Forms Of Discomfort Are Fully Justified, And The Person Who Feels Shame Ought To Be Dealing With Removing Its Causes Rather Than Seeking To Relieve The Symptoms.

People Think, Mistakenly, That Etiquette Means You Have To Suppress Your Differences. On The Contray, Etiquette Is What Enables You To Deal With Them; It Gives You A Set Of Rules.

The Dinner Table Is The Center For The Teaching And Practicing Not Just Of Table Manners But Of Conversation, Consideration, Tolerance, Family Feeling, And Just About All The Other Accomplishments Of Polite Society Except The Minuet.

I Have Always Believed That The Key To A Happy Marriage Was The Ability To Say With A Straight Face, 'why, I Don't Know What You're Worrying About. I Thought You Were Very Funny Last Night And I'm Sure Everybody Else Did, Too.

Dishonesty Is Not The Only Alternative To Honesty. There Is Also The Highly Underrated Virtue Of Shutting Up.