--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: MY rule is never to be rude to anyone…" description: "\"MY rule is never to be rude to anyone unless you mean it.\" — Rex Stout" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e67/rex-stout-2846_mean_my-rule-is-never-to-be-rude-to-anyone-un_1842722.png" --- # MY rule is never to be rude to anyone unless you mean it. ![“MY rule is never to be rude to anyone unless you mean it.” quote by Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e67/rex-stout-2846_mean_my-rule-is-never-to-be-rude-to-anyone-un_1842722.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e67/rex-stout-2846_mean_my-rule-is-never-to-be-rude-to-anyone-un_1842722.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e67/rex-stout-2846_mean_my-rule-is-never-to-be-rude-to-anyone-un_1842722.png) > “MY rule is never to be rude to anyone unless you mean it.” [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Politeness should be genuine; insincere rudeness is harmful. **In simple terms:** Only be rude when truly meant. Key Takeaway Speak kindly unless you truly feel otherwise. Themes ethics communication integrity Mood reflective serious Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - workplace - family gatherings - online forums - customer service Key Concepts social behavior honesty Questions to Reflect On - When is it okay to be blunt? - How do you balance honesty with kindness? A Different Perspective People may misinterpret firmness for rudeness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Rude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rude/) [Rude Unless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rude-unless-2364115/) [Rule](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rule/) [Rule Rude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rule-rude-2364114/) [Unless Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unless-mean-484867/) ## Related quotes > [Dont say you love me unless you mean it¦cos I might do something stupid¦like BELIEVE IT!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/dont-say-you-love-me-unless-you-mean-it-cos-i-might-do-something/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Don't say you love me, unless you mean it cuz I might do something crazy, like believe it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-say-you-love-me-unless-you-mean-it-cuz-i-might-do-something/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I love you. I don't say that unless I mean it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-lee-riner/i-love-you-i-don-t-say-that-unless-i-mean-it/) [Justin Lee Riner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-lee-riner/) > [A dimwit thinks nothing is funny unless it's mean.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/a-dimwit-thinks-nothing-is-funny-unless-it-s-mean/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [I will never say I love you unless I mean it 100%.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cash-boy/i-will-never-say-i-love-you-unless-i-mean-it-100/) [Cash Boy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cash-boy/) > [Love is a stronge word to use but don't use it unless you mean it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jada-adams/love-is-a-stronge-word-to-use-but-don-t-use-it-unless-you-mean-it/) [Jada Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jada-adams/) > [Speak not of my debts unless you mean to pay them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/speak-not-of-my-debts-unless-you-mean-to-pay-them/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) > [Don't say you love me unless you mean it because I might do something stupid...like believe it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-say-you-love-me-unless-you-mean-it-because-i-might-do-something/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Dont say u love me unless u mean it cause I'm might do something stupid like belive it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/dont-say-u-love-me-unless-u-mean-it-cause-i-m-might-do-something/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Don't call yourself a secret unless you mean to keep it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-cohen/don-t-call-yourself-a-secret-unless-you-mean-to-keep-it/) [Leonard Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-cohen/) > [I never smile unless I mean it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donny-osmond/i-never-smile-unless-i-mean-it/) [Donny Osmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donny-osmond/) > [Don't say you love me unless you mean it. Because I could do something crazy... like believe it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jazz/don-t-say-you-love-me-unless-you-mean-it-because-i-could-do-something/) [Jazz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jazz/) > [Don't say it unless you mean it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/musa-nkutha/don-t-say-it-unless-you-mean-it/) [Musa Nkutha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/musa-nkutha/) > [Dont say I love you unless you mean it, because I might do something crazy like believe it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/dont-say-i-love-you-unless-you-mean-it-because-i-might-do-something/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I've heard some pretty bad things in my life. I'm just one of those people I've gotten to a point where I don't want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophia-bush/i-ve-heard-some-pretty-bad-things-in-my-life-i-m-just-one-of-those/) [Sophia Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophia-bush/) ## More by Rex Stout > [A person who does not read cannot think. He may have good mental processes, but he has nothing to think about. You can feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/a-person-who-does-not-read-cannot-think-he-may-have-good-mental/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [If I'm home with no chore at hand, and a package of books has come, the television set and the chess board and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/if-i-m-home-with-no-chore-at-hand-and-a-package-of-books-has-come-the/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [To say that man is a reasoning animal is a very different thing than to say that most of man's decisions are based on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/to-say-that-man-is-a-reasoning-animal-is-a-very-different-thing-than/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [“Frankly, I wish I could make my heart quit doing an extra thump when Wolfe says satisfactory, Archie. It's childish.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/frankly-i-wish-i-could-make-my-heart-quit-doing-an-extra-thump-when/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [What good is an obscenity trial except to popularize literature?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/what-good-is-an-obscenity-trial-except-to-popularize-literature/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [In a world that operates largely at random, coincidences are to be expected, but any one of them must always be mistrusted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/in-a-world-that-operates-largely-at-random-coincidences-are-to-be/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [“everything from war to picnics depends on the weather, as Wolfe remarked”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/everything-from-war-to-picnics-depends-on-the-weather-as-wolfe/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [The more you put in your brain, the more it will hold -- if you have one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/the-more-you-put-in-your-brain-the-more-it-will-hold-if-you-have-one/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [“When we turned right on Thirty-fifth Street our suffix came along. By the time we rolled to the curb in front of Wolfe's house…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/when-we-turned-right-on-thirty-fifth-street-our-suffix-came-along-by/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [What the tongue has promised, the body must submit to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/what-the-tongue-has-promised-the-body-must-submit-to/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [The Glass Key is better than anything Hemingway ever wrote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/the-glass-key-is-better-than-anything-hemingway-ever-wrote/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [Genius is fine for the ignition spark, but to get there someone has to see that the radiator doesn't leak and no tire is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/genius-is-fine-for-the-ignition-spark-but-to-get-there-someone-has-to/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [A Dickens character to me is a theatrical projection of a character. Not that it isn't real. It's real, but in that removed sense.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/a-dickens-character-to-me-is-a-theatrical-projection-of-a-character/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [“To pronounce French properly you must have within you a deep antipathy, not to say scorn, for some of the most sacred of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/to-pronounce-french-properly-you-must-have-within-you-a-deep/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [A man may debar nonsense from his library of reason, but not from the arena of his impulses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/a-man-may-debar-nonsense-from-his-library-of-reason-but-not-from-the/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) [Explore all 148 Rex Stout quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) ## More Mean quotes > [That we have the vote means nothing. That we use it in the right way means everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-henry-hoover/that-we-have-the-vote-means-nothing-that-we-use-it-in-the-right-way/) [Lou Henry Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-henry-hoover/) > [The problem posed by indirect speech acts is the problem of how it is possible for the speaker to say one thing and mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/the-problem-posed-by-indirect-speech-acts-is-the-problem-of-how-it-is/) [John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [A home is not a museum. It doesn't have to be furnished with Picasso paintings, or Sheraton suites, or Oriental rugs, or Chinese pottery.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-m-cain/a-home-is-not-a-museum-it-doesn-t-have-to-be-furnished-with-picasso/) [James M. Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-m-cain/) > [I painted the words "GREAT ADVENTURE" in Beijing, Dallas, San Francisco, Copenhagen, and Japan. What it means to me is completely different to everybody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-eine/i-painted-the-words-great-adventure-in-beijing-dallas-san-francisco/) [Ben Eine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-eine/) > [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [Being blonde, for me, means never having to say: 'I'll have the honey-striped half-head of highlights for £200,' to a bored colourist in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-johnson/being-blonde-for-me-means-never-having-to-say-i-ll-have-the-honey/) [Rachel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-johnson/) > [It's very easy to fool yourself that you're working, you know, when you're really not working very hard. I mean, I'm very lazy. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-caro/it-s-very-easy-to-fool-yourself-that-you-re-working-you-know-when-you/) [Robert Caro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-caro/) > [What is a moderate interpretation of the text? Halfway between what it really means and what you'd like it to mean?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonin-scalia/what-is-a-moderate-interpretation-of-the-text-halfway-between-what-it/) [Antonin Scalia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonin-scalia/) > [You have expressive nationalism, I mean very identity driven, which shaped each other a lot of that in the Middle East.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/subrahmanyam-jaishankar/you-have-expressive-nationalism-i-mean-very-identity-driven-which/) [Subrahmanyam Jaishankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/subrahmanyam-jaishankar/) > [The one means that wins the easiest victory over reason is terror and force.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/the-one-means-that-wins-the-easiest-victory-over-reason-is-terror-and/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [The word 'mundane' has come to mean 'boring' and 'dull', and it really shouldn't - it should mean the opposite. Because it comes from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-word-mundane-has-come-to-mean-boring-and-dull-and-it-really/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [ Neither Italian fascism nor German national "socialism" have anything in common with such a \[Soviet socialistic\] society, primarily because private ownership of factories, plants,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-stalin/neither-italian-fascism-nor-german-national-socialism-have-anything/) [Joseph Stalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-stalin/) > [I am attracted to looking at the different things language can mean even in one sometimes quite ordinary utterance. Writing is partly about listening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/i-am-attracted-to-looking-at-the-different-things-language-can-mean/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) [Browse all 33,959 Mean quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "MY rule is never to be rude to anyone unless you mean it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rex Stout" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/my-rule-is-never-to-be-rude-to-anyone-unless-you-mean-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Mean" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/my-rule-is-never-to-be-rude-to-anyone-unless-you-mean-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e67/rex-stout-2846_mean_my-rule-is-never-to-be-rude-to-anyone-un_1842722.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e67/rex-stout-2846_mean_my-rule-is-never-to-be-rude-to-anyone-un_1842722.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e67/rex-stout-2846_mean_my-rule-is-never-to-be-rude-to-anyone-un_1842722.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“MY rule is never to be rude to anyone unless you mean it.” — Rex Stout", "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": "Rex Stout", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "MY rule is never to be...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/my-rule-is-never-to-be-rude-to-anyone-unless-you-mean-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/my-rule-is-never-to-be-rude-to-anyone-unless-you-mean-it/#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 } } ] } ```