Good manners - the longer I live the more convinced I am of it - are a priceless insurance against failure and loneliness. And anyone can have them.

What is a bore? Maxwell definition: a vacuum cleaner of society, sucking up everything and giving nothing. How do you spot one? Bores are always anxious to be seen talking to you.

the wealthy ... live in marble mausoleums surrounded by the suspicions and neuroses that have replaced the medieval moats which once isolated so-called aristocrats from reality.

Giving parties is a trivial avocation, but it pays the dues for my union card in humanity.

Cocktails are society's most enduring invention!

don't try for wit. Settle for humor. You'll last longer.

The secret of my success is that no woman has ever been jealous of me.