--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Southerners will be polite until they are…" description: "\"Southerners will be polite until they are angry enough to kill you.\" — John Shelton Reed" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/930/john-shelton-reed-21912_angry_southerners-will-be-polite-until-they-ar_1590268.jpg" --- # Southerners will be polite until they are angry enough to… ![“Southerners will be polite until they are angry enough to kill you.” quote by John Shelton Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/930/john-shelton-reed-21912_angry_southerners-will-be-polite-until-they-ar_1590268.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/930/john-shelton-reed-21912_angry_southerners-will-be-polite-until-they-ar_1590268.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/930/john-shelton-reed-21912_angry_southerners-will-be-polite-until-they-ar_1590268.jpg) > “Southerners will be polite until they are angry enough to kill you.” [John Shelton Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-shelton-reed/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Southerners appear courteous but can become violently hostile when provoked. **In simple terms:** Polite until anger triggers aggression. Key Takeaway Beware hidden aggression. Themes politeness anger regional culture Mood cautious skeptical Type cautionary observational When to use this quote - interpersonal conflict - travel - customer service - law enforcement Key Concepts social behavior cultural stereotypes Questions to Reflect On - How do you recognize when politeness hides anger? - What triggers the shift to violence? A Different Perspective Politeness may mask deeper tensions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Angry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/angry/) [Angry Kill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/angry-kill-6025735/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Kill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kill/) [Polite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/polite/) [Polite Angry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/polite-angry-6025734/) [Southerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/southerner/) [Southerners](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/southerners/) [Southerners Polite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/southerners-polite-3190611/) ## Related quotes > [Every Southerner, I think, knows people like Bill Clinton, maybe not quite as smart and maybe not quite as liberal, but kind of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-shelton-reed/every-southerner-i-think-knows-people-like-bill-clinton-maybe-not/) [John Shelton Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-shelton-reed/) > [I can see why many Southerners, black ones in particular, don't like the implication that Southernness and the Confederate heritage are one and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-shelton-reed/i-can-see-why-many-southerners-black-ones-in-particular-don-t-like/) [John Shelton Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-shelton-reed/) > [Southerners smile more than other Americans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-shelton-reed/southerners-smile-more-than-other-americans/) [John Shelton Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-shelton-reed/) > [We could say that people who eat grits, listen to country music, follow stock-car racing, support corporal punishment in the schools, hunt 'possum, go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-shelton-reed/we-could-say-that-people-who-eat-grits-listen-to-country-music-follow/) [John Shelton Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-shelton-reed/) > [If you care to define the South as a poor, rural region with lousy race relations, that South survives only in geographical shreds and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-shelton-reed/if-you-care-to-define-the-south-as-a-poor-rural-region-with-lousy/) [John Shelton Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-shelton-reed/) > [“It’s useless to be as angry as to kill a man; you become responsible of killing someone who would have died of his own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/it-s-useless-to-be-as-angry-as-to-kill-a-man-you-become-responsible/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [“On my first Sunday morning visiting Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC, my family and I sat in front of a lovely family…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thabiti-m-anyabwile/on-my-first-sunday-morning-visiting-capitol-hill-baptist-church-in/) [Thabiti M. 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