Top 108 Quotes & Sayings by Letitia Baldrige - Page 2

President and Mrs. Kennedy would walk into the East Room with their honored guests, preceded by the military color guard, who then posted their flags behind the receiving line. This ceremony never failed to move all of us, no matter how many times the staff witnessed it.

Europeans are easily offended by errors in their titles or full names. Their exasperation is equal to that shown by Americans when the department store fouls up their bills.

Eating American-style, you put the knife down and clang. Continental is silent and efficient.

I'm all for Hillary Clinton. I want her to avoid the barbs of women who hate women who work. But I'm known as a Republican in Washington. I'm probably the last person she'd call.

The Kennedys tried to avoid using the big U-shaped table, but when they couldn't, they had several tricks - including keeping the flowers simple - to keep it from appearing overly stiff and formal.

One cannot reject an entire nation because of the politics of its leader.

Crashing could not be more inconsiderate to a host. It is a negative act because hosts likely have a particular plan for the event, an intention to move guests' attitudes in a certain direction.

Administrations had come and gone in Pennsylvania Avenue, but many old entertaining traditions had survived - thru habit and not thru merit.

Jeans of any sort should not be worn in nice restaurants. They pollute the landscape. They should also not be worn in the workplace if no other workers wear them. However, if your office is casual, go for it.

Going to a party uninvited always has been a negative action. It never has been acceptable. At the very least, it upsets kitchen preparations, parking arrangements, and even details such as space for hanging coats and depositing dripping umbrellas.

I've had a charmed life.

The custom of going to a party only when we have been invited is a necessary, attractive, decent way for a party to evolve.

People are less grateful than they used to be.

You don't want to work so hard that you can't enjoy your guests.

I was considered the luckiest of all the female gypsies since I landed the job as social secretary to Ambassador and Mrs. David Bruce at the American Embassy.

Nothing gets on other people's nerves at the office more than a whistler. And the sad part is, these whistlers don't know they're doing it. Someone should, tactfully, tell the whistler how much it disrupts the office environment.

If you're making a social call, don't call past 8 P.M. The evening is a time when people need a respite from their work - a time to unwind, uninterrupted.

The whole art of flirting has simply disappeared. This probably will do further damage. If we're going to become so uptight that we can't say nice things to each other, then we've had it!

You don't need the White House to please people. You can be 24, earning $22,000 a year, and have people over to your tiny apartment. It's all about sharing and thinking about what will make others happy.

The '80s have not been a gracious decade, and people are seeking ways to be nice to each other.

All of the First Ladies were good, creative and strong. I've always said they should be paid.

When somebody throws something out the car window, honk at them, but don't give them the finger. We've got to temper our negative feelings about people who desecrate the environment.

Arranging an official dinner in an embassy is a little like writing a script for a play. The prolog is the guest list, often the most difficult part of the whole creative operation.

That's how a nation's manners are going to be taught - from watching others' behavior and learning from the effects of that behavior.

Kids today and for the last 20 years have held the fork and knife in unbelievable ways. They hold the fork with a fist and the knife like a saw and they shovel it in. It doesn't matter to them which way they hold their knife and fork. They eat every which way. I'm amazed they get food into their mouths at all.

I believe in teaching manners without causing fisticuffs.

I saw an e-mail from one guy who's about 23 to one of peers. His parting sign-off was 'Don't let the bedbugs bite.' Now that's really poetic.

It's stylish to have people over. But unstylish to make them bring food. It's so tacky, making everybody appear at the door with a dish. Better to order in, use a caterer or bring prepared food into your kitchen.

Backpacks are obtrusive. They're great for school kids and mountaineers, but a woman is supposed to look enticing and glamorous at night. They obscure one of a woman's most erogenous zones, the nape of her neck. I suppose they're good if you want to keep men away.

We need to reach out - spend more time together.

Jeans should never be worn to someone's home if you are having dinner there.

A real thank you does not come by e-mail. They come in the mail in an envelope. And what comes out of an envelope is a beautiful thing to touch and to handle and to pass around for everyone to read.

The best thing we can do to save the planet is set a good example for our kids at home.

We have a lot of societal problems that we have to fix in the 1990s.

To have people to the White House and worry about the price of things is laughable.

Go to any bookstore, and you'll see thousands of books on etiquette, which suggests there's a lot of self-help going on. There is hope.

More young people are aware of the need for thank yous and aware of the tremendous impression they make.

At tea time, all the noise, greed and aggressiveness of the '80s can be drowned out. For 45 minutes, anyway.

Good taste is synonymous with success in all fields of life. It's not a question of money, but of a trained eye.

Women have to be a lot smarter and brighter and have to work a lot harder to prepare themselves. They have to watch what they do and how they behave. It's not a free world yet.

if the right man does not come along, there are many fates far worse. One is to have the wrong man come along.

the person talking to you never looks directly at you, but rather around the room, searching for the answer to the universal cocktail party question, 'Who's here tonight?

The perfect classroom is Paris.

there are two types of the male species of Homo sapiens: men, and Italian men.

There is no substitute for the riches gained on a lifetime basis by the young American who studies or works abroad.

Finally ... You have accomplished your mission in going there tonight - you were 'seen,' and you furnished your host and hostess with the sincerest proof of your great love and friendship for them - you endured their cocktail party.

In Rome people seem to love with more zest, murder with more imagination, submit to creative urges more often, and lose the sense of logic more easily than in any other place.

A balanced guest list of mixed elements is to a successful party what the seasoning is to a culinary triumph.