--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Architecture, like dress, is an exercise…" description: "\"Architecture, like dress, is an exercise in good manners, and good manners involve the habit of skillful insincerity - the habit of saying \"good mornin..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b9/roger-scruton-971_architecture_architecture-like-dress-is-an-exercise-i_2077089.jpg" --- # Architecture, like dress, is an exercise in good manners… ![“Architecture, like dress, is an exercise in good manners, and good manners involve the habit of skillful insincerity - the habit of saying "good morning" to those whose mornings you would rather blight, and of passing the butter to those you would rather starve.” quote by Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b9/roger-scruton-971_architecture_architecture-like-dress-is-an-exercise-i_2077089.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b9/roger-scruton-971_architecture_architecture-like-dress-is-an-exercise-i_2077089.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b9/roger-scruton-971_architecture_architecture-like-dress-is-an-exercise-i_2077089.jpg) > “Architecture, like dress, is an exercise in good manners, and good manners involve the habit of skillful insincerity - the habit of saying "good morning" to those whose mornings you would rather blight, and of passing the butter to those you would rather starve.” [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote compares architecture to dress, saying both require polite deception—presenting courtesy while concealing true feelings. **In simple terms:** Architecture and fashion involve polite insincerity, like saying “good morning” to those you dislike. Key Takeaway Recognize the social etiquette embedded in design and daily interactions. Themes etiquette design social norms deception manners Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - professional networking - public speaking - interpersonal etiquette Key Concepts aesthetics social psychology civil discourse Questions to Reflect On - When does courteous behavior become harmful? - How can we balance honesty with social grace? A Different Perspective Polite deception can erode authenticity over time. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Architecture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/architecture/) [Architecture Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/architecture-like-1385398/) [Blight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blight/) [Dresses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dresses/) [Exercise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exercise/) [Fashion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fashion/) [Fitness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fitness/) [Good man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-man/) [Good manners](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-manners/) [Good morning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-morning/) [Habit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habit/) [Habits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habits/) [Insincerity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insincerity/) [Insincerity Habit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insincerity-habit-4038033/) [Inspiration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspiration/) [Manners](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manners/) [Manners Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manners-good-556530/) [Manners Involve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manners-involve-4038032/) [Morning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morning/) [Passing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passing/) [Passings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passings/) [Skillful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skillful/) ## Related quotes > [Good manners are a part of good morals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-whately/good-manners-are-a-part-of-good-morals/) [Richard Whately](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-whately/) > [The great secret...is not having bad manners or good manners...but having the same manner for all human souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-great-secret-is-not-having-bad-manners-or-good-manners-but-having/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [This laudable quality is commonly known by the name of Manners and Good-breeding, and consists in a Fashionable Habit, acquir'd by Precept and Example,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-de-mandeville/this-laudable-quality-is-commonly-known-by-the-name-of-manners-and/) [Bernard de Mandeville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-de-mandeville/) > [The great secret, Eliza, is not having bad manners or good manners or any other particular sort of manners, but having the same manner…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-great-secret-eliza-is-not-having-bad-manners-or-good-manners-or/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/an-armed-society-is-a-polite-society-manners-are-good-when-one-may/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“Not all the fine things that fine ladies possess Should teach them the poor to despise; For 'tis good manners, and not in good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-taylor/not-all-the-fine-things-that-fine-ladies-possess-should-teach-them/) [Jane Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-taylor/) > [“ Good girl lesson #2: When your BFF sends you a gorgeous guy, you call her and thank her. That's good manners. Good girl…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-shalvis/good-girl-lesson-2-when-your-bff-sends-you-a-gorgeous-guy-you-call/) [Jill Shalvis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-shalvis/) > [“HIGGINS. The great secret, Eliza, is not having bad manners or good manners or any other particular sort of manners, but having the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/higgins-the-great-secret-eliza-is-not-having-bad-manners-or-good/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“Her bone-white face lit up like she was at a surprise party. “Hear that, Dwyer? He called me ma’am! Stay forever if you want,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-starmer/her-bone-white-face-lit-up-like-she-was-at-a-surprise-party-hear-that/) [Aaron Starmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-starmer/) > [“Don't know the manners of good society, eh? Well, I guess I know enough to turn you inside out, old gal—you sockdologizing old man-trap.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-taylor/don-t-know-the-manners-of-good-society-eh-well-i-guess-i-know-enough/) [Tom Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-taylor/) > [Saying thank you is more than good manners. It is good spirituality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-agache/saying-thank-you-is-more-than-good-manners-it-is-good-spirituality/) [Alfred Agache](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-agache/) > [“the architecture student from number eleven presses his face to the glass and looks at the way the light falls through the water, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-mcgregor/the-architecture-student-from-number-eleven-presses-his-face-to-the/) [Jon McGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-mcgregor/) > [Liquid architecture. It's like jazz - you improvise, you work together, you play off each other, you make something, they make something. And I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-gehry/liquid-architecture-it-s-like-jazz-you-improvise-you-work-together/) [Frank Gehry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-gehry/) > [Architecture, like dance, is also a language - one that everybody understands.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/santiago-calatrava/architecture-like-dance-is-also-a-language-one-that-everybody/) [Santiago Calatrava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/santiago-calatrava/) > [Architecture is like writing. You have to edit it over and over so it looks effortless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zaha-hadid/architecture-is-like-writing-you-have-to-edit-it-over-and-over-so-it/) [Zaha Hadid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zaha-hadid/) ## More by Roger Scruton > [Beauty is vanishing from our world because we live as though it does not matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/beauty-is-vanishing-from-our-world-because-we-live-as-though-it-does/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [“So conceived, the English police force served to emphasize a fundamental truth about the English law, which is that it exists not to control…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/so-conceived-the-english-police-force-served-to-emphasize-a/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [My 2018 ended with a hate storm, in response to my appointment as chair of the government's Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/my-2018-ended-with-a-hate-storm-in-response-to-my-appointment-as/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [I've never been an optimist, but that's fine because pessimists have the possibility of being agreeably surprised.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/i-ve-never-been-an-optimist-but-that-s-fine-because-pessimists-have/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [Unlike every other product that is now manufactured for the table, wine exists in as many varieties as there are people who produce it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/unlike-every-other-product-that-is-now-manufactured-for-the-table/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [The abstract, unreal freedom of the liberal intellect was really nothing more than childish disobedience, amplified into anarchy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/the-abstract-unreal-freedom-of-the-liberal-intellect-was-really/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [“I think we can all see the force of the idea that there are certain things that cannot be done to human beings –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/i-think-we-can-all-see-the-force-of-the-idea-that-there-are-certain/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [When art becomes merely shock value, our sense of humanity is slowly degraded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/when-art-becomes-merely-shock-value-our-sense-of-humanity-is-slowly/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [“Western democracies did not create the virtue of citizenship; on the contrary, they grew from it. Nothing is more evident in The Federalist than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/western-democracies-did-not-create-the-virtue-of-citizenship-on-the/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [“If one looks back to the French Revolution, one sees just how easy it is for the doctrine of “human rights” to become an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/if-one-looks-back-to-the-french-revolution-one-sees-just-how-easy-it/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [“I say it was immediately apparent, but it was not apparent to the intellectual class, which has remained largely wedded to the post-war consensus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/i-say-it-was-immediately-apparent-but-it-was-not-apparent-to-the/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [Conservatives hold on to things not only because they are attached to them, but also because they do not see the sense in radical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/conservatives-hold-on-to-things-not-only-because-they-are-attached-to/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [“Academic philosophers in the English speaking world still regard philosophy as Locke defined it in the 17th century, as “the handmaiden of the sciences”:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/academic-philosophers-in-the-english-speaking-world-still-regard/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [Delia Smith is, actually, my bete noire. I consider her a most pernicious influence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/delia-smith-is-actually-my-bete-noire-i-consider-her-a-most/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [Modern art was born from a desire to destroy kitsch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/modern-art-was-born-from-a-desire-to-destroy-kitsch/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) [Explore all 317 Roger Scruton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) ## More Architecture quotes > [The bones of my architecture are very much related to the structure, to the physical fact of how a building can stand up; it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/santiago-calatrava/the-bones-of-my-architecture-are-very-much-related-to-the-structure/) [Santiago Calatrava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/santiago-calatrava/) > [A man walks down the street. It's a street in a strange world. Maybe it's the third world. 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