--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The older a person grows, Harriet, the…" description: "\"“The older a person grows, Harriet, the more important it is that their manners should not be bad,—the more glaring and disgusting any loudness, or coa..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/337/jane-austen-39_manners_the-older-a-person-grows-harriet-the-mor_2521672.jpg" --- # The older a person grows, Harriet, the more important it… ![“The older a person grows, Harriet, the more important it is that their manners should not be bad,—the more glaring and disgusting any loudness, or coarseness, or awkwardness becomes. What is passable in youth is detestable in later age.” quote by Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/337/jane-austen-39_manners_the-older-a-person-grows-harriet-the-mor_2521672.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/337/jane-austen-39_manners_the-older-a-person-grows-harriet-the-mor_2521672.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/337/jane-austen-39_manners_the-older-a-person-grows-harriet-the-mor_2521672.jpg) > ““The older a person grows, Harriet, the more important it is that their manners should not be bad,—the more glaring and disgusting any loudness, or coarseness, or awkwardness becomes. What is passable in youth is detestable in later age.”” [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Manners become increasingly crucial as one ages; youthful laxity becomes unacceptable later. **In simple terms:** Good behavior matters more with age. Key Takeaway Cultivate refined manners early. Themes etiety age manners Mood contemplative formal Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - professional networking - family gatherings - public speaking Key Concepts social etiquette personal development cultural norms Questions to Reflect On - How do you maintain decorum in modern settings? - What habits reflect mature character? A Different Perspective Changing norms can blur expectations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Manners](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manners/) [Youth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/youth/) ## Related quotes > [“Which makes his good manners the more valuable. The older a person grows, Harriet, the more important it is that their manners should not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/which-makes-his-good-manners-the-more-valuable-the-older-a-person/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“What is passable in youth is detestable in later age”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/what-is-passable-in-youth-is-detestable-in-later-age/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Good manners and bad breath will get you nowhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elvis-costello/good-manners-and-bad-breath-will-get-you-nowhere/) [Elvis Costello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elvis-costello/) > [But my father was also the one who told me I needed to clean up my mouth or I'd never find a man. What's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zosia-mamet/but-my-father-was-also-the-one-who-told-me-i-needed-to-clean-up-my/) [Zosia Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zosia-mamet/) > [It's so important to have manners and treat people from all walks of life the way they should be treated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-beckham/it-s-so-important-to-have-manners-and-treat-people-from-all-walks-of/) [David Beckham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-beckham/) > [“I declare That later on, Even in an age unlike our own, Someone will remember who we are.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sappho/i-declare-that-later-on-even-in-an-age-unlike-our-own-someone-will/) [Sappho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sappho/) > [Being a father at a later age is different from when I had my other two daughters when I was in my 20s and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-scorsese/being-a-father-at-a-later-age-is-different-from-when-i-had-my-other/) [Martin Scorsese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-scorsese/) > [“A later age looks back with nostalgia at an earlier one and depicts it in terms of ideals and activities now receding.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/romila-thapar/a-later-age-looks-back-with-nostalgia-at-an-earlier-one-and-depicts/) [Romila Thapar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/romila-thapar/) > [I'm someone who has grown physically at a later age, I was always one of the smallest players.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/klaas-jan-huntelaar/i-m-someone-who-has-grown-physically-at-a-later-age-i-was-always-one/) [Klaas-Jan Huntelaar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/klaas-jan-huntelaar/) > [“I don’t believe I was smarter than anyone else, as I’m often told by those who came in at a later age. 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The bringing up, as of a child; instruction; formation of manners. Education comprehends all that series of instruction and discipline which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noah-webster/education-n-the-bringing-up-as-of-a-child-instruction-formation-of/) [Noah Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noah-webster/) > [Such squeamish youths as cannot bear to be connected with a little absurdity are not worth a regret.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/such-squeamish-youths-as-cannot-bear-to-be-connected-with-a-little/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) ## More by Jane Austen > [Let us have the luxury of silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/let-us-have-the-luxury-of-silence/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“How earnestly did she then wish that her former opinions had been more reasonable, more moderate!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/how-earnestly-did-she-then-wish-that-her-former-opinions-had-been/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“it is very well worth-while to be tormented for two or three years of one's life, for the sake of being able to read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/it-is-very-well-worth-while-to-be-tormented-for-two-or-three-years-of/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [ “Everybody is taken in at some period or another. \[...\] In marriage especially. \[...\] There is not one in a hundred of either sex,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/everybody-is-taken-in-at-some-period-or-another-in-marriage/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [She knew that what Marianne and her mother conjectured one moment, they believed the next: that with them, to wish was to hope, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/she-knew-that-what-marianne-and-her-mother-conjectured-one-moment/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“…for I look upon the Frasers to be about as unhappy as most other married people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/for-i-look-upon-the-frasers-to-be-about-as-unhappy-as-most-other/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“It raises my spleen more than any thing, to have the pretence of being asked, of being given a choice, and at the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/it-raises-my-spleen-more-than-any-thing-to-have-the-pretence-of-being/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [her spirits wanted the solitude and silence which only numbers could give.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/her-spirits-wanted-the-solitude-and-silence-which-only-numbers-could/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“But in such cases as these a good memory is unpardonable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/but-in-such-cases-as-these-a-good-memory-is-unpardonable/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“...the pleasantness of an employment does not always evince its propriety.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/the-pleasantness-of-an-employment-does-not-always-evince-its-propriety/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Such squeamish youths as cannot bear to be connected with a little absurdity are not worth a regret.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/such-squeamish-youths-as-cannot-bear-to-be-connected-with-a-little/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“I must tell you what you will not ask, though I may wish it unsaid the next moment”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/i-must-tell-you-what-you-will-not-ask-though-i-may-wish-it-unsaid-the/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“Lady Catherine seemed quite astonished at not receiving a direct answer; and Elizabeth suspected herself to be the first creature who had ever dared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/lady-catherine-seemed-quite-astonished-at-not-receiving-a-direct/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“He had suffered, and he had learnt to think, two advantages that he had never known before…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/he-had-suffered-and-he-had-learnt-to-think-two-advantages-that-he-had/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“Vanity was the beginning and the end of Sir Walter Eliot's character; vanity of person and of situation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/vanity-was-the-beginning-and-the-end-of-sir-walter-eliot-s-character/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) [Explore all 2,013 Jane Austen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) ## More Manners quotes > [Good manners are not bred in moments, but in years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-mcnair-wright/good-manners-are-not-bred-in-moments-but-in-years/) [Julia McNair Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-mcnair-wright/) > [Your idea of fidelity is not having more than one man in bed at the same time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-raphael/your-idea-of-fidelity-is-not-having-more-than-one-man-in-bed-at-the/) [Frederic Raphael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-raphael/) > [My grandparents were far more English in their manners than they were Chinese. For example, we spoke English at home, had afternoon tea every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kwan/my-grandparents-were-far-more-english-in-their-manners-than-they-were/) [Kevin Kwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kwan/) > [To be polite to everybody except the people they love most is a nervous affectation that afflicts many families ... when they come home,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-fishback/to-be-polite-to-everybody-except-the-people-they-love-most-is-a/) Margaret Fishback > [I don't do plays without jokes anymore. I've retired from those plays. I think it's bad manners to invite people to sit in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-nighy/i-don-t-do-plays-without-jokes-anymore-i-ve-retired-from-those-plays/) [Bill Nighy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-nighy/) > [To follow good manners willingly is like paving the road and to tell somebody to follow them is like the road which is always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/to-follow-good-manners-willingly-is-like-paving-the-road-and-to-tell/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [The only way to have a funeral is to invite everyone who ever knew the person and just wait for the accident to happen-somebody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-roth/the-only-way-to-have-a-funeral-is-to-invite-everyone-who-ever-knew/) [Philip Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-roth/) > [“What a nice thing to say," Mom said, standing up a little straighter, as if she'd been watered. Marlena's manners were unpracticed, but she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-buntin/what-a-nice-thing-to-say-mom-said-standing-up-a-little-straighter-as/) [Julie Buntin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-buntin/) > [The highest perfection of politeness is only a beautiful edifice, built, from the base to the dome, of ungraceful and gilded forms of charitable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-highest-perfection-of-politeness-is-only-a-beautiful-edifice/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I have been missing the point. The point is not knowing another person, or learning to love another person. The point is simply this:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-wells/i-have-been-missing-the-point-the-point-is-not-knowing-another-person/) [Rebecca Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-wells/) > [One man lies in his words, and gets a bad reputation; another in his manners, and enjoys a good one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/one-man-lies-in-his-words-and-gets-a-bad-reputation-another-in-his/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“...the pleasantness of an employment does not always evince its propriety.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/the-pleasantness-of-an-employment-does-not-always-evince-its-propriety/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Politics has rough manners, but it is a very useful thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-crick/politics-has-rough-manners-but-it-is-a-very-useful-thing/) [Bernard Crick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-crick/) > [It's my firm conclusion that human meaning comes from humans, not from a supernatural source. After we die, our hopes for an afterlife reside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-graffin/it-s-my-firm-conclusion-that-human-meaning-comes-from-humans-not-from/) [Greg Graffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-graffin/) > [“In years gone by, particularly in the East and the South, ladies would attend charm school to learn how to elegantly stand, sit, dance,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/in-years-gone-by-particularly-in-the-east-and-the-south-ladies-would/) [Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) [Browse all 1,635 Manners quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manners/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The older a person grows, Harriet, the more important it is that their manners should not be bad,—the more glaring and disgusting any loudness, or coarseness, or awkwardness becomes. 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