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Judith Martin

Judith Martin Quotes

Journalist

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Famous Judith Martin Quotes

“It is not rude to turn off your telephone by switching it on to an answering machine, which is cheaper and less disruptive than ripping it out of the wall. Those who are offended because they cannot always get through when they seek, at their own convenience, to barge in on people are suffering from a rude expectation.”

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Book:Miss Manners' Guide for the Turn-of-the-Millennium
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“GENTLE READER: You, sir, are an anarchist, and Miss Manners is frightened to have anything to do with you. It is true that questioning the table manners of others is rude. But to overthrow the accepted conventions of society, on the flimsy grounds that you have found them silly, inefficient and discomforting, is a dangerous step toward destroying civilization.”

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Book:Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior
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“Nowadays, we never allow ourselves the convenience of being temporarily unavailable, even to strangers. With telephone and beeper, people subject themselves to being instantly accessible to everyone at all times, and it is the person who refuses to be on call, rather than the importunate caller, who is considered rude.”

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Book:Common courtesy: in which Miss Manners solves the problem that baffled Mr. Jefferson
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