E. F. Benson Quotes

We must watch over our modesty in the presence of those who cannot understand its grounds.

It was the Victorians who covered the piano legs and drew a heavy curtain over what a lady got up to in her boudoir.

I don't like the word 'ladylike.'

People have no concept of boundaries.

Tis a rule of manners to avoid exaggeration.

Howard and Shirley were clothed, always, in an invisible layer of decorum that they never laid aside.

French women have been made beautiful by the French people - they're very aware of their bodies, the way they move and speak, they're very confident of their sexuality. French society's made them like that.

My mother had all these maxims - like, classy girls never chew gum, never read comic books, never get their ears pierced, never get their hair dyed.

Women are taught that if you want to be a lady, keep your opinions to yourself and be polite.

Well I think people think sex is controversial. Not always, but certainly it's something to be discussed.

If you wear short skirts you get your femininity back.

We're warriors, this culture, and we're very puritanical about sex and very embracing about violence and I don't know why that is.

Chaperons don't enforce morality; they force immorality to be discreet.

I definitely love women. They are more attractive to the naked eye.

A naked woman in heels is a beautiful thing. A naked man in shoes looks like a fool.

Some things a lady doesn't tell.

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

There's almost a Rorschach-test quality about writing about 'Playboy'. What comes out in the press is not so much about me as it is about society.

There's so much judgment geared toward young girls. People just expect so much from girls. Even physically and aesthetically, people expect us to always look right, to have a certain etiquette - to talk a certain way and act a certain way - and to know certain things. It's all different expectations, but there are always expectations.

Women totally dress for women. If we were dressed for men, we'd be prancing around in tight, tight, tight bodycon skirts and tops all day or really simple jeans and T-shirts.

Beauty pageants in general are foreign and noxious to me: I can barely muster the energy to put on lip gloss and mascara.

For the canons of good society are, or should be, the same as the canons of art. Form is absolutely essential to it.

When it came to, like, appropriate behavior towards one another, it was - I was well-versed.

I don't want to hear any words like that while I'm here. Scout, you'll get in trouble if you go around saying things like that. You want to grow up to be a lady, don't you?' I said not particularly.

Association with women is the basis of good manners.