--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Manners are the hypocrisy of a nation." description: "\"Manners are the hypocrisy of a nation.\" — Honore de Balzac" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf2/honor-de-balzac-197_hypocrisy_manners-are-the-hypocrisy-of-a-nation-11_117652.png" --- # Manners are the hypocrisy of a nation. ![“Manners are the hypocrisy of a nation.” quote by Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf2/honor-de-balzac-197_hypocrisy_manners-are-the-hypocrisy-of-a-nation-11_117652.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf2/honor-de-balzac-197_hypocrisy_manners-are-the-hypocrisy-of-a-nation-11_117652.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf2/honor-de-balzac-197_hypocrisy_manners-are-the-hypocrisy-of-a-nation-11_117652.png) > “Manners are the hypocrisy of a nation.” [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Balzac suggests that societal etiquette masks underlying insincerity, revealing a disconnect between outward politeness and true moral character. **In simple terms:** Politeness can hide hypocrisy. Key Takeaway Manners may conceal deeper flaws. Themes social norms hypocrisy culture ethics Mood critical thoughtful Type philosophical observation When to use this quote - political speeches - corporate PR - diplomatic negotiations Key Concepts social façade moral authenticity Practical Applications - Encourage genuine dialogue over superficial courtesy - Teach critical observation of behavior Questions to Reflect On - When do manners become a tool for deception? - Can etiquette coexist with authenticity? A Different Perspective Not all manners are insincere; many foster genuine respect. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hypocrisy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hypocrisy/) [Manners](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manners/) [Nation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nation/) ## Related quotes > [For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/for-it-is-not-light-that-is-needed-but-fire-it-is-not-the-gentle/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [How fondly swindlers coddle their dupes! No mother is as caressing or thoughtful towards her adored child as a merchant in hypocrisy toward his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/how-fondly-swindlers-coddle-their-dupes-no-mother-is-as-caressing-or/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Women, perhaps even require a little hypocrisy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/women-perhaps-even-require-a-little-hypocrisy/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [One can imagine the look the two lovers exchanged; it was like a flame, for virtuous lovers have not a shred of hypocrisy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/one-can-imagine-the-look-the-two-lovers-exchanged-it-was-like-a-flame/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [“If we want truth and justice to rule our global village, there must be no hypocrisy. If there is no truth, then there will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-kassem/if-we-want-truth-and-justice-to-rule-our-global-village-there-must-be/) [Suzy Kassem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-kassem/) > [When will conventional good manners become attractive? When will ladies of fashion exhibit their shoulders a little less and their affability and wit a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/when-will-conventional-good-manners-become-attractive-when-will/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Mayor De Blasio's appointment of Bill Bratton as police commissioner is the height of hypocrisy. Asking Bratton to stop racial profiling and stop and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-barron/mayor-de-blasio-s-appointment-of-bill-bratton-as-police-commissioner/) Charles Barron > [Want of principle is power. Truth and honesty set a limit to our efforts, which impudence and hypocrisy easily overleap.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/want-of-principle-is-power-truth-and-honesty-set-a-limit-to-our/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Hypocrisy is a detriment to progress. There's always a hidden agenda.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-flynt/hypocrisy-is-a-detriment-to-progress-there-s-always-a-hidden-agenda/) [Larry Flynt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-flynt/) > [The hypocrisy and false piety of the deniers aside, the relationships of gays have no effect on heteros. Especially all the heteros who've done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ridley/the-hypocrisy-and-false-piety-of-the-deniers-aside-the-relationships/) [John Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ridley/) > [Bigoted people are just scholars who lack any sort of legitimate credentials to answer why they're bigoted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doctavius/bigoted-people-are-just-scholars-who-lack-any-sort-of-legitimate/) Doctavius > [“If men could see us as we really are, they would be a little amazed; but the cleverest, the acutest men are often under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/if-men-could-see-us-as-we-really-are-they-would-be-a-little-amazed/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [ “In all, the future secretary of defense and wartime vice president\[, Dick Cheney,\] would receive five deferments during the Vietnam War, protecting him from… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-savage/in-all-the-future-secretary-of-defense-and-wartime-vice-president/) Charlie Savage > [Honesty in politics is the result of strength; hypocrisy is the result of weakness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-lenin/honesty-in-politics-is-the-result-of-strength-hypocrisy-is-the-result/) [Vladimir Lenin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-lenin/) > [Everybody should read 'Slaughterhouse-Five' by Kurt Vonnegut. This book is about the hypocrisy of war, told in satire, and is hard-hitting and truthful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kalki-koechlin/everybody-should-read-slaughterhouse-five-by-kurt-vonnegut-this-book/) [Kalki Koechlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kalki-koechlin/) ## More by Honore de Balzac > [“Oh, my friend, when you love, love a woman whom you are sure that you can love always. Never forsake a woman.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/oh-my-friend-when-you-love-love-a-woman-whom-you-are-sure-that-you/) [Honoré de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [“You have broken the ice, though you have not even scratched its glossy surface: you have placed your hand upon the croup of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/you-have-broken-the-ice-though-you-have-not-even-scratched-its-glossy/) [Honoré de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [In a world of hunchbacks, a fine figure becomes a monstrosity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/in-a-world-of-hunchbacks-a-fine-figure-becomes-a-monstrosity/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [It is quite right what they say: the three most beautiful sights in the world are a ship in full sail, a galloping horse,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/it-is-quite-right-what-they-say-the-three-most-beautiful-sights-in/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [My writing table has seen all my wretchedness, knows all my plans, has overheard all my thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/my-writing-table-has-seen-all-my-wretchedness-knows-all-my-plans-has/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Foppery, being the chronic condition of women, is not so much noticed as it is when it breaks out on the person of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/foppery-being-the-chronic-condition-of-women-is-not-so-much-noticed/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [A married woman is a slave you must know how to seat upon a throne.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/a-married-woman-is-a-slave-you-must-know-how-to-seat-upon-a-throne/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Rich men are resolved to be astonished at nothing. When they see a masterpiece, they must needs at one glance recognize some flaw to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/rich-men-are-resolved-to-be-astonished-at-nothing-when-they-see-a/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [I am a galley slave to pen and ink.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/i-am-a-galley-slave-to-pen-and-ink/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [One can imagine the look the two lovers exchanged; it was like a flame, for virtuous lovers have not a shred of hypocrisy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/one-can-imagine-the-look-the-two-lovers-exchanged-it-was-like-a-flame/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [White and shining virgin of all human virtues, ark of the covenant between earth and heaven, tender and strong companion partaking of the lion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/white-and-shining-virgin-of-all-human-virtues-ark-of-the-covenant/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [All men can bear a familiar, definite misfortune better than the cruel alternations of a fate which, from one moment to another, brings excessive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/all-men-can-bear-a-familiar-definite-misfortune-better-than-the-cruel/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [The mind, too, has its regimen. It needs gymnastics, just like the body does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/the-mind-too-has-its-regimen-it-needs-gymnastics-just-like-the-body/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Hatred like love feeds on the merest trifles. Everything adds to it. Just as the being we love can do no wrong, so the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/hatred-like-love-feeds-on-the-merest-trifles-everything-adds-to-it/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [All human power is a compound of time and patience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/all-human-power-is-a-compound-of-time-and-patience/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) [Explore all 793 Honore de Balzac quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) ## More Hypocrisy quotes > [Everybody should read 'Slaughterhouse-Five' by Kurt Vonnegut. This book is about the hypocrisy of war, told in satire, and is hard-hitting and truthful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kalki-koechlin/everybody-should-read-slaughterhouse-five-by-kurt-vonnegut-this-book/) [Kalki Koechlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kalki-koechlin/) > [Honesty in politics is the result of strength; hypocrisy is the result of weakness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-lenin/honesty-in-politics-is-the-result-of-strength-hypocrisy-is-the-result/) [Vladimir Lenin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-lenin/) > [ “In all, the future secretary of defense and wartime vice president\[, Dick Cheney,\] would receive five deferments during the Vietnam War, protecting him from… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-savage/in-all-the-future-secretary-of-defense-and-wartime-vice-president/) Charlie Savage > [“If men could see us as we really are, they would be a little amazed; but the cleverest, the acutest men are often under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/if-men-could-see-us-as-we-really-are-they-would-be-a-little-amazed/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [Bigoted people are just scholars who lack any sort of legitimate credentials to answer why they're bigoted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doctavius/bigoted-people-are-just-scholars-who-lack-any-sort-of-legitimate/) Doctavius > [The hypocrisy and false piety of the deniers aside, the relationships of gays have no effect on heteros. Especially all the heteros who've done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ridley/the-hypocrisy-and-false-piety-of-the-deniers-aside-the-relationships/) [John Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ridley/) > [Hypocrisy is a detriment to progress. There's always a hidden agenda.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-flynt/hypocrisy-is-a-detriment-to-progress-there-s-always-a-hidden-agenda/) [Larry Flynt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-flynt/) > [Want of principle is power. Truth and honesty set a limit to our efforts, which impudence and hypocrisy easily overleap.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/want-of-principle-is-power-truth-and-honesty-set-a-limit-to-our/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Mayor De Blasio's appointment of Bill Bratton as police commissioner is the height of hypocrisy. Asking Bratton to stop racial profiling and stop and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-barron/mayor-de-blasio-s-appointment-of-bill-bratton-as-police-commissioner/) Charles Barron > [It's about time Hypocrisy should be adopted as a religion, considering it's got more followers than any other religion on this planet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashutosh-cheulkar/it-s-about-time-hypocrisy-should-be-adopted-as-a-religion-considering/) [Ashutosh Cheulkar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashutosh-cheulkar/) > [I hate a woman who offers herself because she ought to do so, and cold and dry thinks of her sewing when making love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/i-hate-a-woman-who-offers-herself-because-she-ought-to-do-so-and-cold/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [One can imagine the look the two lovers exchanged; it was like a flame, for virtuous lovers have not a shred of hypocrisy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/one-can-imagine-the-look-the-two-lovers-exchanged-it-was-like-a-flame/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [A wicked mortal is not the idea of God. He is little else than the expression of error. To suppose that sin, lust, hatred,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-baker-eddy/a-wicked-mortal-is-not-the-idea-of-god-he-is-little-else-than-the/) [Mary Baker Eddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-baker-eddy/) > [“even the worst men wanted to be perceived as better than they were. How else could hypocrisy have risen to such delirious levels?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-leon/even-the-worst-men-wanted-to-be-perceived-as-better-than-they-were/) [Donna Leon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-leon/) > [What I object to in Mother is that she wants me to think her thoughts. Apart from the question of hypocrisy, I prefer my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-deland/what-i-object-to-in-mother-is-that-she-wants-me-to-think-her-thoughts/) [Margaret Deland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-deland/) [Browse all 1,238 Hypocrisy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hypocrisy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Manners are the hypocrisy of a nation.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Honore de Balzac" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/manners-are-the-hypocrisy-of-a-nation/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Hypocrisy" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/manners-are-the-hypocrisy-of-a-nation/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf2/honor-de-balzac-197_hypocrisy_manners-are-the-hypocrisy-of-a-nation-11_117652.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf2/honor-de-balzac-197_hypocrisy_manners-are-the-hypocrisy-of-a-nation-11_117652.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf2/honor-de-balzac-197_hypocrisy_manners-are-the-hypocrisy-of-a-nation-11_117652.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Manners are the hypocrisy of a nation.” — Honore de Balzac", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Honore de Balzac", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Manners are the hypocrisy of a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/manners-are-the-hypocrisy-of-a-nation/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/manners-are-the-hypocrisy-of-a-nation/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```