Custom and Convention
‹ 5 · Outline · 7 ›
6.Manners, ceremony and etiquette
6a.Good breeding and its purpose
See also: Habit 3b
Homer, The OdysseyVol. 22
- p. 50Telemachus's modest reserve in speaking before his host is praised as sober wit.read · scan
Confucius, The Sayings of ConfuciusVol. 44
- p. 6Courtesy must temper ease; ritual propriety is the beauty of the old kings' ways.read · scan
- p. 11Ceremony and rites are valued for themselves; asking how things are done is itself propriety.read · scan
- p. 27–28Confucius rises for mourners, the robed and the blind, showing respectful courtesy.read · scan
- p. 31–32Rules for offerings, meals, mats, village exorcisms and bowing when sending messages.read · scan
- p. 32Correct conduct toward the king's gifts, dining and visits; asking how each thing is done in the temple.read · scan
- p. 32Respectful demeanour toward mourners, the blind, thunder and choice meats; conduct in the chariot; the Master favours early courtesy.read · scan
- p. 59Courtesy and harmony are more than jade, silk, bells and drums.read · scan
- p. 64Propriety as the range within which conduct may move freely.read · scan
Buddhist WritingsVol. 45
- p. 754–755Visakha observes etiquette, alighting from her carriage to approach the Teacher on foot.read · scan
Plutarch, CaesarVol. 12
- p. 277–279He says one who faults another's lack of breeding shows he lacks it himself.read · scan
Chapters from the KoranVol. 45
- p. 976–977Salutations must be returned with a better greeting or equal.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 232Courtesy customs: respectful salutation, kissing the ground, humility, invoking God before eating and thanking the host.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, HellVol. 20
- p. 65–66Virgil says courtesy is due these spirits; they know Dante by his Florentine garb.read · scan
Geoffrey Chaucer, The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales; The Nun's Priest's TaleVol. 40
- p. 12The Prioress's table manners and courtly affectations show polite convention, her provincial French, and her mild oath.read · scan
Traditional BalladsVol. 40
- p. 157–159Courtesy and hospitality shown or withheld: Robin doffs his hood, the monk does not, and is treated as a churl.read · scan
Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31
- p. 263The Sienese gentleman rebukes the sons for bad manners toward strangers, a disgrace to the city.read · scan
- p. 394The courteous Cesena captain and Cellini vie in civilities, which improves the work; contrasted with the rude captain.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 197–198Don Quixote embraces the ragged stranger with courtly compliment and infers his high quality from his perfumed leather jerkin.read · scan
- p. 425Courtly manners and the arrangement of lodging, with the women in one room and men on guard.read · scan
Francis Bacon, Essays, Civil and MoralVol. 3
- p. 124Good manners and ceremonies win reputation; they should be natural and unaffected, neither neglected nor overdone.read · scan
John Milton, Poems Written at Horton, 1632-1638Vol. 4
- p. 51The Lady remarks that courtesy is found in lowly sheds more than in courts of princes.read · scan
Abraham Cowley, Of AgricultureVol. 27
- p. 65Dancing, once heathen ceremony, is now customary good breeding.read · scan
John Dryden, Preface to Fables, Ancient and ModernVol. 39
- p. 164–165Concern for good manners governs which tales are chosen.read · scan
John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning EducationVol. 37
- p. 45Civility expressions established by nature or custom become easy through constant practice.read · scan
- p. 47Manners and fashionable breeding are learned from example and company; inner civility matters more than outward forms.read · scan
- p. 71–72Civility and manners suited to persons, times and places are learned by company and observation, not books.read · scan
- p. 72Good breeding, graceful manners suited to persons and occasions, sets off good qualities; its absence disfigures virtue and courage.read · scan
- p. 73Good breeding opens a man's way in the world more than learning, though ill breeding is seldom mentioned to the person guilty.read · scan
- p. 79–80Good manners are learned by use and company, not from treatises; a tutor's ill example spoils his lectures.read · scan
- p. 119Good breeding, the second quality of a gentleman, avoids bashfulness and disrespectful negligence.read · scan
- p. 120Outward civility is a language governed by each country's fashion, learned by observing the well-bred.read · scan
- p. 124Forms of civility differ by country like languages, so rules for children are useless; manners follow one's company.read · scan
Jonathan Swift, A Treatise on Good Manners and Good BreedingVol. 27
- p. 99Good manners are the art of making others easy; civilized nations fix rules of behaviour as artificial good sense to supply defects of reason.read · scan
Samuel Johnson, Life of Addison, 1672-1719Vol. 27
- p. 162–163Casa, Castiglione and La Bruyère taught manners and daily conversation; England lacked a judge of propriety before the Tatler and Spectator.read · scan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, A Discourse upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality among MankindVol. 34
- p. 204Duties of civility and politeness arose among savages from claims to esteem.read · scan
Oliver Goldsmith, She Stoops to ConquerVol. 18
- p. 216–217Rules of genteel table behaviour, places and silence are imposed on country servants.read · scan
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Minna von Barnhelm, or The Soldier's FortuneVol. 26
- p. 300–301Just condemns the landlord's bad manners toward a good lodger.read · scan
Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6
- p. 445–446Rude Gothic manners have given way to well-bred decorum toward women.read · scan
Friedrich von Schiller, Letters upon the Aesthetic Education of ManVol. 32
- p. 233–234Refined manners are linked with taste, while savage nations are seen as coarse; some deny the connection.read · scan
- p. 287Polite forms of society are defended against complaints that semblance has replaced solidity.read · scan
- p. 294–295Perfect politeness sought near thrones; true manners should come from nature, not empty foreign imitation.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 559Renzo's respectful mountaineer manner of doffing his hat meets suspicion from a plague-frightened citizen.read · scan
- p. 625–626Lucia's composed greeting follows polite convention among educated people, differing for Renzo and for others.read · scan
John Henry Newman, The Idea of a UniversityVol. 28
- p. 33–34Polished manners and the gentleman's bearing are acquired from society, in court and great houses, not from books; social usage forms character.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, MannersVol. 5
- p. 205Laws of behavior yield to individual energy; good sense and character make their own forms, and fashion demands only composure and self-content.read · scan
- p. 207–208Good breeding demands deference, reserve and privacy; each man's island inviolate, ceremonies recalling the grandeur of our destiny.read · scan
- p. 214–215Admired man has manners within elegant conventions yet unlearned there, shaking off the captivity of etiquette.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, English TraitsVol. 5
- p. 408–409Talent runs into manners; the nobility's good behavior and repose are its finest ornament.read · scan
- p. 409–410Politeness is the ritual of society, as prayers are of the church; manners are valuable in finishing men.read · scan
Hans Christian Andersen, TalesVol. 17
- p. 223–224Mother teaches barnyard etiquette: bow heads, turn toes out as well-brought-up ducks do.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, On LibertyVol. 25
- p. 271–272Common notions of politeness wrongly discourage honestly pointing out another's faults.read · scan
- p. 294Acts harmless in private violate good manners and decency if done publicly, and so may be prohibited.read · scan
6b.Ceremony as empty or excessive
Confucius, The Sayings of ConfuciusVol. 44
- p. 11–12Kuan Chung's extravagance shows that ceremonial knowledge does not equal thrift.read · scan
Pliny the Younger, Letters of PlinyVol. 9
- p. 239–240Ceremonial visits before daylight are a burdensome social convention Pliny wishes to avoid.read · scan
Geoffrey Chaucer, The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales; The Nun's Priest's TaleVol. 40
- p. 12She strains to imitate courtly manners and be held worthy of reverence.read · scan
Traditional BalladsVol. 40
- p. 161–163Courtly ceremony: knight and outlaw exchange courteous greetings, kneeling and doffing hoods.read · scan
Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31
- p. 322–323Court formalities are described as customs that do not concern real obedience to the King.read · scan
- p. 402–404The envoys' oration is so ceremonious it would be excessive for a Pope; Cellini answers with humility and bows.read · scan
Richard Edwardes, Amantium IraeVol. 40
- p. 202Satirizes social gestures of kneeling, capping, smiling and embracing that hide wiles.read · scan
Sir Francis Drake, Sir Francis Drake RevivedVol. 33
- p. 185–186Ships exchange ceremonial gifts, a pistol case, a gilt scimitar and a gold chain, as tokens of amity.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 79Simple leaf garments and plain speech contrasted with court dames' ornament and artificial words.read · scan
Francis Bacon, The New AtlantisVol. 3
- p. 147–148Welcoming gestures with arms abroad and the civil crowd; officers scorn taking twice-paid rewards.read · scan
- p. 170–171Ceremonial reception, orderly crowds and prescribed forms of audience mark the visit.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of DenmarkVol. 46
- p. 135–136Welcome requires fashion and ceremony; Hamlet complies in outward garb.read · scan
- p. 202–203The empty courtly manners and flattery of gentry are satirized.read · scan
- p. 203–204Hamlet scorns courtiers of the drossy age who have only outward habit of encounter and fashionable phrases.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of MacbethVol. 46
- p. 334–335Courtly hospitality and formal courtesies between king and hostess, masking Macbeth's murderous plan.read · scan
Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Life Is a DreamVol. 26
- p. 42Court compliments and ceremony weary Segismund, unused to courtly manners.read · scan
Sir Thomas Browne, Religio MediciVol. 3
- p. 254Holy-water, crucifix and gestures of devotion are treated as outward ceremonies that aid inward worship without deceiving judgment.read · scan
John Dryden, All for Love; or, The World Well LostVol. 18
- p. 14Ceremony and decorum overrule substance; Montaigne quoted on manners forbidding natural words while allowing vice.read · scan
- p. 14French good breeding and ceremony make heroes dull and untrue to antiquity.read · scan
John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning EducationVol. 37
- p. 123Excess of ceremony is a fault; good breeding aims only to make people easy in conversation.read · scan
Jonathan Swift, A Treatise on Good Manners and Good BreedingVol. 27
- p. 100Ceremonial forms meant for weak understandings have been corrupted into endless, troublesome ceremonies that wise men find insupportable.read · scan
- p. 101Satirizes court ceremony with absurd mishaps and holds that good manners are not a plant of court growth.read · scan
- p. 102–103Ridicules ceremonial rules like the tied periwig, and distinguishes good manners, settled forms, from good breeding, a wider learning.read · scan
- p. 103Forms of etiquette vary by country and time, rest on no reason, and are beneath a wise man's regard; travellers' zeal for foreign fashions is folly.read · scan
Oliver Goldsmith, She Stoops to ConquerVol. 18
- p. 246–247Hardcastle, out of respect for his guest's father, holds his temper over the servants' drunkenness, using ironic politeness.read · scan
Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in FranceVol. 24
- p. 206–207Ironically notes a revolution in French ideas of politeness, consoling the king with praise of his servants' murder.read · scan
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Minna von Barnhelm, or The Soldier's FortuneVol. 26
- p. 309–310The lady's servant delivers empty compliments and an apology, and Tellheim is moved by her politeness.read · scan
- p. 315–316The innkeeper's fawning politeness and the formalities of registering guests.read · scan
Hans Christian Andersen, TalesVol. 17
- p. 260–261Elaborate etiquette of invitations and preparation, satirized with grotesque delicacies and ornaments.read · scan
Frank Aretas Haskell, The Battle of GettysburgVol. 43
- p. 355–357Contrasts the grand ceremonial picture of a council of war with its plain, informal reality.read · scan
6c.Manners marking rank and social distinction
See also: Aristocracy 1b
Confucius, The Sayings of ConfuciusVol. 44
- p. 9Usurped ritual privileges offend propriety; in ceremony inner feeling outweighs form.read · scan
- p. 10Usurped sacrifice by the Chi is condemned.read · scan
- p. 12Kuan usurped royal ceremonial privileges, so courtesy cannot be attributed to him.read · scan
- p. 29–30Confucius' deferential demeanour at home, temple and court, speaking differently to high and low.read · scan
- p. 30Detailed court etiquette: Confucius' bowing, stooping, and bated breath before the king and throne.read · scan
- p. 30–31Ceremonial bearing with the sceptre and royal gifts, and prescribed clothing suited to occasion and season.read · scan
- p. 31Proper dress for condolence, court and fast days; rules on what food to eat and avoid.read · scan
- p. 56–57Courtesy gives foothold; forms of address for a king's wife vary by speaker.read · scan
Herodotus, An Account of EgyptVol. 33
- p. 81–82Seven hereditary Egyptian classes; warriors forbidden crafts; many peoples hold artisans less honourable than warriors.read · scan
Buddhist WritingsVol. 45
- p. 605–606Caste rules: Buddhas are born only in warrior or Brahman castes, whichever is held higher, never peasant or servile.read · scan
- p. 644–645Buddha prescribes forms of address between senior and junior priests after his death and allows lesser precepts to be abrogated.read · scan
- p. 758–759Visakha explains that kings, elephants, monks and women lose dignity by running; each has a seemly gait.read · scan
- p. 759–760Rules for how decorated maidens return home, by chariot according to rank.read · scan
The Bhagavad-Gita; or, Song CelestialVol. 45
- p. 870–871The caste division of tasks is grounded in the qualities born in each nature.read · scan
Tacitus, GermanyVol. 33
- p. 114Suevian knotted hair distinguishes free Suevians from slaves and is imitated by other nations.read · scan
Pliny the Younger, Letters of PlinyVol. 9
- p. 215Criticizes a host's custom of serving different wines and dishes according to guests' rank, and contrasts it with Pliny's equal table.read · scan
BeowulfVol. 49
- p. 20–23Queen bears the cup through hall by rank, and thanks God; banquet ritual and boast.read · scan
The Story of the Volsungs and NiblungsVol. 49
- p. 281–282The king judges manners as revealing rank ('ill manners for a king's daughter'); the child is sprinkled with water and named.read · scan
Geoffrey Chaucer, The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales; The Nun's Priest's TaleVol. 40
- p. 17–18Solemn speech and stately bearing let the Merchant keep up a respectable appearance.read · scan
- p. 20–21Livery, guild fraternity, silver-mounted knives and precedence mark conventional civic status.read · scan
Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31
- p. 269Rank dictates how travellers should journey; Cellini rejects the customs of dukes' sons as not his own.read · scan
William Harrison, A Description of Elizabethan EnglandVol. 35
- p. 217Titles and forms of address like Grace are fixed by usage and custom.read · scan
- p. 267Clerical dress changed from gaudy colors and silks to the fixed attire bound by the universities.read · scan
- p. 280Grades of bread are assigned by rank: fine manchet for gentry, coarse brown bread for servants and the inferior sort.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 78Sancho prefers eating unceremoniously in a corner to the restraints of manners at great tables.read · scan
- p. 78–79Sancho declines seating honours; Don Quixote insists the humble shall be exalted, overriding rank etiquette at the meal.read · scan
- p. 174Grandees' master of horse riding behind; Quixote notes customs were not all invented at once.read · scan
- p. 195His gentility of speech and bearing shows itself even to rustic goatherds, marking him as well-born and courtly.read · scan
- p. 273Courtesies of rank and decency: Don Quixote insists a reverend person should not go on foot.read · scan
- p. 273–276Courtesy between the curate, barber and princess over who rides the saddle.read · scan
Balow; The Old Cloak; Jolly Good Ale and OldVol. 40
- p. 188–190He complains that fine clothes blur rank between clowns and gentlemen; she says pride puts the country down.read · scan
Francis Bacon, The New AtlantisVol. 3
- p. 147Distinctive dress, gestures of thanks and ceremony of oath and notary mark the islanders' manners.read · scan
Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, Philaster, or Love Lies A-BleedingVol. 47
- p. 742–744Megra complains that princes have salves for ill names that common people lackread · scan
John Webster, The Duchess of MalfiVol. 47
- p. 775Duchess argues hat-removal before the prince is ceremony more than duty; Antonio defends the reverent distinction.read · scan
Philip Massinger, A New Way to Pay Old DebtsVol. 47
- p. 886–888Marrall's clumsy manners at the lady's table are mocked; she insists on due courtesy to whomever she honours.read · scan
Thomas Hobbes, Of Man, Being the First Part of LeviathanVol. 34
- p. 364–365Law or custom can make things signs of honour, and doing them acknowledges the power others recognise.read · scan
- p. 367Honour varies by age and people; the custom of gentry and coats of arms derives from the ancient Germans.read · scan
Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48
- p. 37Magistrates' robes and physicians' caps impress the imagination and win respect that true justice or healing would not need.read · scan
- p. 109–110Honour to a man in brocade with lackeys is enforced by custom, which is a force; Montaigne wrongly wonders at it.read · scan
- p. 110Being spruce and showing deference are sound conventions, signalling followers and power and distinguishing the great.read · scan
- p. 110–111Distinguishing men by outward signs like lackeys avoids quarrels over merit and secures peace, the greatest boon.read · scan
Blaise Pascal, Minor WorksVol. 48
- p. 378–379Rank of duke or boatman is conventional; soul and body are indifferent to either condition.read · scan
- p. 380–381Greatness of institution rests on men's pleasure and varies by country; it deserves outward ceremonial respect once established.read · scan
Oliver Goldsmith, She Stoops to ConquerVol. 18
- p. 211–212Alehouse fellows prize gentility and 'the genteel thing'; Squire Lumpkin's rakish habits are admired.read · scan
- p. 215–216Landlord's pretension to gentility and Hardcastle's training servants in genteel manners show social conventions and affectation of rank.read · scan
- p. 249–250Marlow says differences of birth, fortune and education bar an honourable connexion, and he owes much to the world's opinion and his father.read · scan
- p. 264–265Marlow's pride and the disparity of education, fortune and rank begin to lose their weight.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Tragedy of Faust, Part IVol. 19
- p. 39–41Holiday strolling and class manners: the burgher's daughter scorns young men chasing servant girls.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Hermann and DorotheaVol. 19
- p. 350–352Fashionable dress, piano and manners as marks of social standing; his coat and hair judged by them.read · scan
- p. 353Father desires social show: piano, fine company on Sundays, as at the neighbor's.read · scan
William Ellery Channing, On the Elevation of the Laboring ClassesVol. 28
- p. 345Coarse manners of the lower classes are not necessary; refinement, as in Norway, can spread through all conditions and habits change.read · scan
- p. 345–346Old manners, pageantry and forms of rank no longer hold men down; customary reliances are broken.read · scan
- p. 352–353Laborers should scorn measuring men by outward show and dress, and adopt simplicity of living.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 9–10Bravoes' distinctive dress and weapons mark them as a recognized, long-established social type in Lombardy.read · scan
- p. 44–45The long lock served as the distinguishing mark of bravoes and villains of the time.read · scan
- p. 57–58Two conflicting customs about yielding the wall, by right hand or by rank, clash and produce a quarrel.read · scan
- p. 190–191Renzo is edified by the courtesy of Milanese to strangers, though it was an unusual day when the Spanish cloak stooped before the doublet.read · scan
- p. 412–413The chaplain schools the women in ceremonial titles for addressing the Cardinal, lamenting his familiarity.read · scan
- p. 564–565Plague upends dress and manners: gentlemen without cloaks, unkempt beards, greetings by distant signs, fear of poisoners.read · scan
- p. 631–632Titles and forms of address change by usage; inferiors' titles spread upward and rank-claims multiply.read · scan
- p. 637Separate tables for nobleman and peasants reflect class convention.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, MannersVol. 5
- p. 200The gentleman as a modern social creation; fashion and good society as a permanent average of character, marked by a shared masonic sign.read · scan
- p. 202–203Manners smooth life like a railway, are adopted and fixed, and harden into Fashion as a badge of social distinction.read · scan
- p. 204Caste and fashion prove more durable than moral movements or associations, rank depending on natural agreement with society's symmetry.read · scan
- p. 205–207Feudal etiquette and social approbation determine standing; a host should meet his guest at the door.read · scan
Hans Christian Andersen, TalesVol. 17
- p. 325–326Forms of address (thou versus you) mark rank and familiarity between the two.read · scan
Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the BeagleVol. 29
- p. 318Darwin admires Chilean natural politeness, such as hat-salute to a deformed negress, contrasting European classes.read · scan
- p. 427Nose-pressing greeting described in detail; formalities between ranks arise only as civilization advances.read · scan
Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Two Years Before the MastVol. 23
- p. 76Describes the costume of the Californians, the customs officers' dress, and how appearance signals rank irrespective of actual means.read · scan
- p. 78Description of Californian women's dress and manners, and how rank is marked by them.read · scan
- p. 78–79Caste by blood and women's excessive fondness for dress and ornament shape Californian society.read · scan
Frank Aretas Haskell, The Battle of GettysburgVol. 43
- p. 357–360Irregular uniforms and informal manners contrast with military ceremony.read · scan
6d.Fashion, society and conversation
Homer, The OdysseyVol. 22
- p. 96–97Nausicaa's conduct and the proper way to bring a stranger to the house are judged by social expectations.read · scan
Marcus Tullius Cicero, On Old AgeVol. 9
- p. 61Ancestors called a dinner convivium, 'living together', which stresses community over eating and drinking.read · scan
- p. 61–62Cicero keeps ancestral banquet customs, master of the feast and ordered conversation, among his Sabine neighbours.read · scan
Plutarch, AntonyVol. 12
- p. 341Antony's soldierly coarse raillery contrasts with courtly manners; she adapts to his taste.read · scan
Epictetus, The Golden Sayings of EpictetusVol. 2
- p. 175–176Conduct in company: silence among strangers, avoiding oaths and unlearned banquets.read · scan
- p. 176Guidance on conduct in company: avoid boasting, provoking laughter and coarse talk.read · scan
Pliny the Younger, Letters of PlinyVol. 9
- p. 199Recitations are a social custom; the obligation to attend lapses when a return is expected.read · scan
- p. 413–414Public invitations and doles at weddings and offices are a local custom that may be abused.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 122Eating with the left hand puzzles the host, showing table manners and the expectation of the right hand.read · scan
- p. 133A guest's strange compulsion to wash his hands a hundred and twenty times before eating the dish is accepted by the company.read · scan
- p. 141Breach of a fastidious etiquette about washing after eating is treated as insanity and grounds for mutilation.read · scan
- p. 437–438Khoja Hoseyn is civil to neighbouring merchants as custom demands, cultivating friendship to gain access to the household.read · scan
William Harrison, A Description of Elizabethan EnglandVol. 35
- p. 274Table etiquette and drinking customs, traced to Mnesitheus of Athensread · scan
Ben Jonson, PoemsVol. 40
- p. 291–293The world is denounced where rumour is believed, nothing examined, freedom betrayed.read · scan
Ben Jonson, The AlchemistVol. 47
- p. 542Manners, now called humours, of London types feed the stage.read · scan
Thomas Hobbes, Of Man, Being the First Part of LeviathanVol. 34
- p. 351Propriety of speech varies with company and occasion, such as sermon versus familiar talk.read · scan
Molière, Tartuffe, or The HypocriteVol. 26
- p. 199–201She disapproves of the household's manners and Cleante's way of living.read · scan
- p. 203–204Debate over gossip and scandal, and whether one should heed neighbours' talk about visits and company.read · scan
John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's ProgressVol. 15
- p. 187Neighbors' custom of knocking and the conventional 'in God's name' greeting.read · scan
Jonathan Swift, Hints towards an Essay on ConversationVol. 27
- p. 93Observes company manners where reminiscing pairs and strained wits burden the rest of the company.read · scan
- p. 94Contrasts French and earlier English raillery ending in compliment with the present custom of running a man down.read · scan
- p. 95–96Rude familiarity passed as humour is traced to Roman slaves and Cromwell's court, and to duels over misplaced words.read · scan
Jonathan Swift, On the Death of Esther Johnson [Stella]Vol. 27
- p. 129Contrasts the ladies' conventional feigned incomprehension with her open rebuke; questions what manners approve.read · scan
Samuel Johnson, Life of Addison, 1672-1719Vol. 27
- p. 163–164The Tatler and Spectator adjusted daily intercourse by propriety and politeness, exhibiting the manners of the age and teaching the gay to unite merriment with decency.read · scan
Samuel Johnson, Preface to ShakespeareVol. 39
- p. 241–242Fugitive customs such as dress, conversation formalities, visits and ceremony fall from record and are hard to recover.read · scan
Oliver Goldsmith, She Stoops to ConquerVol. 18
- p. 212–214Marlow's reserve makes him avoid asking directions and incurring obligation to strangers.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Tragedy of Faust, Part IVol. 19
- p. 140–142Martha complains of neighbours gaping and scandal being busy; Margaret fears her mother's discovery.read · scan
Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for ScandalVol. 18
- p. 113Scandal is a modish habit of society, learned like eating and drinking; newspapers supply it.read · scan
Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6
- p. 182–184Shows the neighbors' scandal and social slight (kintra clatter) suffered by the unwed mother.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 101–102Propriety keeps Renzo from remaining with the women at so late an hour.read · scan
- p. 182–183Village gossip spreads inevitably: Perpetua, Gervase and others cannot keep the secret, like new wine ferments in an old cask.read · scan
- p. 307–308Proverbs and the conventions of polite indirect speech shape the Count's veiled accusation.read · scan
Thomas Carlyle, Sir Walter ScottVol. 25
- p. 393Satirizes the soiree of lions, where civilised meeting dispenses with real utterance between souls.read · scan
- p. 399The Damocles' sword of Respectability and sanctities of private life stifle honest English biography.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, FriendshipVol. 5
- p. 110Civility and social humoring spoil conversation; society in a false age demands masks.read · scan
- p. 112–113Good company's conventions suppress personal partialities and destroy the freedom of great conversation.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, MannersVol. 5
- p. 209Society is a convention that loves what is conventional; manners are good or bad as they help or hinder fellowship.read · scan
- p. 210Society's expectations of manners: good nature, sympathy and ease are what it prizes in its favorites; the debt of honor anecdote shows social code.read · scan
- p. 211Emerson defends Fashion as a symbolic institution grounded in benevolence, while mocking its ballroom-code and its parade of curious guests.read · scan
- p. 215–216Fashion's seeming grandeur is relative and local, worthless in farm, market, war, friendship or thought; the remedy is to move away.read · scan
- p. 218Society and fashion have both good laws and absurd ones; Silenus's fable shows its character indeterminate between good and bad.read · scan
Hans Christian Andersen, TalesVol. 17
- p. 262–263The elves' table manners, dances and marriage preferences are comically judged against genteel behavior.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, AutobiographyVol. 25
- p. 141English general society is insipid, kept up by custom and station; it deteriorates people of intellect who frequent it.read · scan
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