A small wedding is not necessarily one to which very few people are invited. It is one to which the person you are addressing is not invited.

Meanwhile, the empty forms of social behavior survive inappropriately in business situations. We all know that when a business sends its customers 'friendly reminders,' it really means business.

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.

We are all born rude. No infant has ever appeared yet with the grace to understand how inconsiderate it is to disturb others in the middle of the night.

Hypocrisy is not generally a social sin, but a virtue.

When politeness is used to show up other people, it is reclassified as rudeness. Thus it is technically impossible to be too polite.

Parents should conduct their arguments in quiet, respectful tones, but in a foreign language. You'd be surprised what an inducement that is to the education of children.