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.

We are born charming fresh and spontaneous and must be civilized before we are fit to participate in society.

everyone old enough to have a secret is entitled to have some place to keep it.

Charming villains have always had a decided social advantage over well-meaning people who chew with their mouths open.

Everybody's an art critic.

Society cannot exist without etiquette ... It never has, and until our own century, everybody knew that.

From Memorial Day to Labor Day, you may wear white shoes. Not before and not after. As a command, the White Shoe Edict should be clear and simple enough. Do not violate it. In a society in which everything else has become relative, a matter of how it makes you feel, a question between you and your conscience, and an opportunity for you to be really you, this is an absolute.