Smart people duck when they hear the dread announcement 'I'm going to be perfectly honest with you.

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

It is, indeed, a trial to maintain the virtue of humility when one can't help being right.

One should not be assigned one's identity in society by the job slot one happens to fill. If we truly believe in the dignity of labor, any task can be performed with equal pride because none can demean the basic dignity of a human being.

Chaperons, even in their days of glory, were almost never able to enforce morality; what they did was to force immorality to be discreet. This is no small contribution.

You do not have to do everything disagreeable that you have a right to do

It is wrong to wear diamonds before luncheon, except on one’s marriage rings. Before, after, and during breakfast, luncheon and dinner, it is vulgar to wear a mixture of colored precious stones. It is always a comfort to know that so many things one can’t afford to do anyway are vulgar.