--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Courtesy is the foundation of all good…" description: "\"“Courtesy is the foundation of all good manners.”\" — William Riley Brooksher" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/761/william-riley-brooksher-287176_good-man_courtesy-is-the-foundation-of-all-good-m_1309713.jpg" --- # Courtesy is the foundation of all good manners. ![“Courtesy is the foundation of all good manners.” quote by William Riley Brooksher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/761/william-riley-brooksher-287176_good-man_courtesy-is-the-foundation-of-all-good-m_1309713.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/761/william-riley-brooksher-287176_good-man_courtesy-is-the-foundation-of-all-good-m_1309713.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/761/william-riley-brooksher-287176_good-man_courtesy-is-the-foundation-of-all-good-m_1309713.jpg) > ““Courtesy is the foundation of all good manners.”” [William Riley Brooksher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-riley-brooksher/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Polite behavior underlies all good manners. **In simple terms:** Courtesy is the base of manners. Key Takeaway Practice courtesy daily. Themes manners politeness social etiquette Mood respectful educational Type statement advice When to use this quote - school - workplace - public settings Key Concepts cultural norms interpersonal skills Questions to Reflect On - How does courtesy influence others' behavior? - When is politeness insufficient? A Different Perspective Politeness alone may not guarantee respect. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Courtesy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courtesy/) [Courtesy Foundation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courtesy-foundation-4329085/) [Foundation Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foundation-good-1585209/) [Good man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-man/) [Good manners](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-manners/) [Manners](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manners/) ## Related quotes > [No one has ever been offended by someone with good manners and courteous behaviour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/no-one-has-ever-been-offended-by-someone-with-good-manners-and/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [Civility means a great deal more than just being nice to one another. It is complex and encompasses learning how to connect successfully and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-m-forni/civility-means-a-great-deal-more-than-just-being-nice-to-one-another/) [P. M. Forni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-m-forni/) > [The knowledge of courtesy and good manners is a very necessary study. It is like grace and beauty, that which begets liking and an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/the-knowledge-of-courtesy-and-good-manners-is-a-very-necessary-study/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Life is not so short but that there is always time enough for courtesy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/life-is-not-so-short-but-that-there-is-always-time-enough-for-courtesy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-post/manners-are-a-sensitive-awareness-of-the-feelings-of-others/) [Emily Post](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-post/) > [Snobs look down on people, and I look down on everyone. Not in a snooty, classist way - I mean because I'm better than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murdoc-niccals/snobs-look-down-on-people-and-i-look-down-on-everyone-not-in-a-snooty/) [Murdoc Niccals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murdoc-niccals/) > [It was good, too, to remember how hard a lot of people had to work to keep a kingdom running well, and that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-ferris/it-was-good-too-to-remember-how-hard-a-lot-of-people-had-to-work-to/) [Jean Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-ferris/) > [Teach a child good manners during babyhood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nachman-of-breslov/teach-a-child-good-manners-during-babyhood/) [Nachman of Breslov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nachman-of-breslov/) > [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/) > [The sign of a person who has had an education is good manners.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sai-baba/the-sign-of-a-person-who-has-had-an-education-is-good-manners/) [Sai Baba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sai-baba/) > [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/) > [As a writer and director, I want to know what is behind the good manners and soft voice. Who is inside the silhouette?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/as-a-writer-and-director-i-want-to-know-what-is-behind-the-good/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) ## More Courtesy quotes > [If we accept being talked to any kind of a way, then we are telling ourselves we are not quite worth the best. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/if-we-accept-being-talked-to-any-kind-of-a-way-then-we-are-telling/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Less of your courtesy and more of your purse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/proverb/less-of-your-courtesy-and-more-of-your-purse/) [Proverb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/proverb/) > [Dullness is a courteous fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammad-mustafa/dullness-is-a-courteous-fear/) [Mohammad MUSTAFA](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammad-mustafa/) > [Lobbying' is the activity of attempting to influence legislation by privately influencing the legislators. It is the result and creation of a mixed economy-of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/lobbying-is-the-activity-of-attempting-to-influence-legislation-by/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“...a great man who is vicious will only be a great doer of evil, and a rich man who is not liberal will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-cervantes/a-great-man-who-is-vicious-will-only-be-a-great-doer-of-evil-and-a/) [Miguel Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-cervantes/) > [“I would court you, with all the grace and courtesy that you deserve,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-pacat/i-would-court-you-with-all-the-grace-and-courtesy-that-you-deserve/) [C.S. Pacat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-pacat/) > [The greater the man the greater the courtesy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-the-great/the-greater-the-man-the-greater-the-courtesy/) [Alfred the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-the-great/) > [“Out of all its squalor and human decay, its eruptions of butchery, India produced so many people of grace and beauty, ruled by elaborate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/out-of-all-its-squalor-and-human-decay-its-eruptions-of-butchery/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Show some mercy to this chair which has stretched out its arms to you for so long; please satisfy its desire to embrace you!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/show-some-mercy-to-this-chair-which-has-stretched-out-its-arms-to-you/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-post/manners-are-a-sensitive-awareness-of-the-feelings-of-others/) [Emily Post](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-post/) > [His courtesy was somewhat extravagant. He would write and thank people who wrote to thank him for wedding presents and when he encountered anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/his-courtesy-was-somewhat-extravagant-he-would-write-and-thank-people/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [They who sow courtesy reap friendship, and they who plant kindness gather love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-basil/they-who-sow-courtesy-reap-friendship-and-they-who-plant-kindness/) [Saint Basil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-basil/) > [“If a lady offers you a kindness, you absolutely have to accept”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-wallingford/if-a-lady-offers-you-a-kindness-you-absolutely-have-to-accept/) [Maria Wallingford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-wallingford/) > [though I be but the prince of Wales, yet I am king of courtesy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/though-i-be-but-the-prince-of-wales-yet-i-am-king-of-courtesy/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Princes of courtesy, merciful, proud and strong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-newbolt/princes-of-courtesy-merciful-proud-and-strong/) [Henry Newbolt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-newbolt/) [Browse all 527 Courtesy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courtesy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Courtesy is the foundation of all good manners.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Riley Brooksher" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-riley-brooksher/courtesy-is-the-foundation-of-all-good-manners/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Courtesy" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-riley-brooksher/courtesy-is-the-foundation-of-all-good-manners/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/761/william-riley-brooksher-287176_good-man_courtesy-is-the-foundation-of-all-good-m_1309713.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/761/william-riley-brooksher-287176_good-man_courtesy-is-the-foundation-of-all-good-m_1309713.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/761/william-riley-brooksher-287176_good-man_courtesy-is-the-foundation-of-all-good-m_1309713.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Courtesy is the foundation of all good manners.” — William Riley Brooksher", "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": "William Riley Brooksher", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-riley-brooksher/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Courtesy is the foundation of all...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-riley-brooksher/courtesy-is-the-foundation-of-all-good-manners/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-riley-brooksher/courtesy-is-the-foundation-of-all-good-manners/#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 } } ] } ```