Top 167 Propriety Quotes & Sayings

It is said that the propriety even of old Cato often yielded to the exciting influence of the grape.

I am afraid that the pleasantness of an employment does not always evince its propriety.

This indigested vomit of the Sea,Fell to the Dutch by Just Propriety.

That only can with propriety be styled refinement which, by strengthening the intellect, purifies the manners.

Let a man be stimulated by poetry, established by the rules of propriety, and perfected by music.

Propriety of thought and propriety of diction are commonly found together. Obscurity and affectation are the two greatest faults of style. Obscurity of expression generally springs from confusion of ideas; and the same wish to dazzle, at any cost, which produces affectation in the manner of a writer, is likely to produce sophistry in his reasonings.

I'm a gentleman, if nothing else. It's taken me years to become one, but finally I have a sense of propriety.

If you cannot conduct yourself with propriety, give place to those who can.

The [President's] Nomination, of Course, brings the Subject fully under the Consideration of the Senate; who have then a Right to decide upon its Propriety or Impropriety.

Fashionable dances as now carried on are revolting to every feeling of delicacy and propriety and are fraught with the greatest danger to millions.

The propriety of a law, in a constitutional light, must always be determined by the nature of the powers upon which it is founded.

You can be assured that I need no one's guidance in anything concerning propriety.

The row of dolls watched her impassively from the bookshelf, their tea party propriety almost certainly offended.

Oratory is good only if it has the qualities of fitness for the occasion, propriety of style, and originality of treatment, while in the case of letters there is no such need whatsoever.

Propriety is that perfection of style which comes when a work is authoritatively constructed on approved principles. It arises from prescription, from usage, or from nature.

Those expressions are omitted which can not with propriety be read aloud in the family.

Emancipation, to be of any value to the slave, must be the free, voluntary act of the master, performed from a conviction of its propriety.

IT is difficult to speak or write with becoming moderation or propriety, on topics to which we are biased by prejudice, interest, or even principle.

Genius disregards the boundaries of propriety. Genius is permitted to shout if shouting is productive.

Without an acquaintance with the rules of propriety, it is impossible for the character to be established

Once the demands of necessity and propriety have been met, the rest that one owns belongs to the poor.

I'm waiting for the day when my children cease to find my domestic propriety reassuring and actually find it annoying.

Propriety's never been Adrian's strong suit.

Propriety is the least of all laws, and the most observed.

a deviation from propriety scarcely ever escapes punishment.

Oh, propriety," says Mrs Benjamin. "We're always so concerned with propriety. Even in total madness, we still stick to our hierarchies and chains of command.

The propriety of some persons seems to consist in having improper thoughts about their neighbors.

A laugh, if purchased at the expense of propriety, costs too much.

A certain class of novels may with propriety be called fables.

Be aroused by poetry; structure yourself with propriety, refine yourself with music.

Architecture depends on Order, Arrangement, Eurythmy, Symmetry , Propriety , and Economy.

Those expressions are omitted which cannot with propriety be read aloud in the family.

How do our philosophers act? Do they not inscribe their signatures to the very essays they write on the propriety of despising glory.

Avant-garde art jousts with propriety, but takes care never to unseat it.

A prude is a person who thinks that his own rules of propriety are natural laws.

Eating meat and drinking liquor are demonic vices. Those indulging in drink lose all sense of propriety, have no compassion or love and become demons.

The propriety of thoughts and words, which are the hidden beauties of a play, are but confusedly judged in the vehemence of action.

Just because I tread heavily on propriety's toes doesn't mean I can't play the game when it's of use to me.

If there are such things as political axioms, the propriety of the judicial power of a government being co-extensive with its legislative, may be ranked among the number.

Female schools might be comprised in the list of those worthy the public patronage, with great propriety.

Money is, with propriety, considered as the vital principle of the body politic; as that which sustains its life and motion, and enables it to perform its most essential functions.

There are as many kinds of modesty as there are races. To the English woman it is a duty; to the French woman a propriety.

I am too inexperienced and ignorant to conduct myself with propriety in this town, where every thing is new to me, and many things are unaccountable and perplexing.

Even the street, the sunshine, the very air had a special Sunday quality. We walked differently on Sundays, with greater propriety and stateliness. Greetings were more formal, more subdued, voices more meticulously polite. Everything was so smooth, bland, polished. And genuinely so, because this was Sunday. In church the rustling and the stillness were alike pervaded with the knowledge that all was for the best. Propriety ruled the universe. God was in His Heaven, and we were in our Sunday clothes.

A novice always behaves with propriety.

Even in killing men, observe the rules of propriety.

There will be no propriety in the spectacle of an elegant interior approached by a low mean entrance.

The responsibility of a minister is to step aside when there is a criminal investigation of the department. That protects the propriety of Parliament and of responsible government.

Proportion and propriety are among the best secrets of domestic wisdom; and there is no surer test of integrity than a well-proportioned expenditure.

It is the effect of scarcity; one’s rules of propriety make one thirst for the improper.

Propriety and single interest divides the people of a land and the whole world into parties and is the cause of all wars and bloodshed and contention everywhere

I've got confidence that most people in America still have a decent sense of manners, propriety, morality.

Generosity, pleasing address, courage and propriety of conduct are not acquired, but are inbred qualities.

Propriety was a rigid master, but one that must be obeyed if one wanted to keep a sterling reputation.

No man can well doubt the propriety of placing a president of the United States under the most solemn obligations to preserve, protect, and defend the constitution.

Look not at what is contrary to propriety; listen not to what is contrary to propriety; speak not what is contrary to propriety; make no movement which is contrary to propriety.

Straight-forwardness, without the rules of propriety, becomes rudeness.

The superior man, extensively studying all learning, and keeping himself under the restraint of the rules of propriety, may thus likewise not overstep what is right.

Propriety of manners, and consideration for others, are the two main characteristics of a gentleman.

The first monster that an audience has to be scared of is the filmmaker. They have to feel in the presence of someone not confined by the normal rules of propriety and decency.