90+ Best Gentlemen Quotes About Courtesy, Respect And Good Manners

According to several dictionaries, a gentleman is defined as someone who holds a high position in society.

Someone belonging to a royal family or a noble family was considered a gentleman back in the day. However, these men had to possess many qualities to be considered a gentleman.

A man needs to have courtesy, chivalry and impeccable manners to be called a true gentleman. These are qualities that one can learn and become a true gentleman! If you want to be a gentleman, you don't only need to be chivalrous at work but also everywhere else. You need to live your life in a self-respecting way and give others the respect that you want for your own self. If you want to live in a gentlemanly way, you should check out these words that will make you want to better yourself. There are plenty of avenues, tricks, and things that can assist you in becoming more gentlemanly in life. You can also look to others, such as Vin Diesel and Luigi Pirandello, to learn ways in which you could be inspirational and more gentlemanly. Check out our gentleman quotes to know something about others as well as oneself.

If you like these gentlemen quotes, you'll like these a few good men quotes and strong man quotes too!

These are some of the best gentleman quotes that include true gentleman quotes, real man quotes, and more to inspire everyone to live the right way and never act like someone who's not gentlemanly.

1. "You will be judged by what you succeed at gentlemen, not by what you attempt."

- Clement Attlee.

2. "A gentleman will not insult me, and no man not a gentleman can insult me."

- Frederick Douglass.

3. "There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man."

- Patrick Rothfuss.

4. "A rich rogue nowadays is fit company for any gentleman; and the world, my dear, hath not such a contempt for roguery as you imagine."

- John Gay.

5. "Whether the gentleman is capable or not, he is loved all the same; conversely the petty man is loathed all the same."

- Xunzi.

6. "A real man ain't a coward, he stands by what he says, admits his faults, and corrects his mistakes."

- Kiki Strack.

7. "If we must have a tyrant, let him at least be a gentleman who has been bred to the business, and let us fall by the axe and not by the butcher's cleaver."

- Lord Byron.

8. "If the gentleman has ability, he is magnanimous, generous, tolerant, and straightforward, through which he opens the way to instruct others."

- Xunzi.

9. "The rules about opening doors and buying dinner and all of that other 'gentleman' stuff is a chess game, especially these days."

- Anna Kendrick.

10. "We sometimes meet an original gentleman, who, if manners had not existed, would have invented them."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson.

11. "Perfect soldier, perfect gentleman never gave offence to anyone, not even the enemy."

- A. J. P. Taylor

12. "The inspiration of the Bible depends upon the ignorance of the gentleman who reads it."

- Robert Green Ingersoll.

13. "Prayer gives a man the opportunity of getting to know a gentleman he hardly ever meets. I do not mean his maker, but himself."

- William Ralph Inge.

14. "A hero walks proudly with his head up. A hero walks with a purpose. A hero's always a gentleman."

- John Singleton.

15. "'Tis well enough for a servant to be bred at an University. But the education is a little too pedantic for a gentleman."

- William Congreve.

16. "The look of a gentleman is little else than the reflection of the looks of the world."

- William Hazlitt.

17. "The object of golf is not just to win. It is to play like a gentleman, and win."

- Phil Mickelson.

18. "A gentleman is simply a patient wolf."

- Lana Turner.

19. "The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid."

- Jane Austen.

20. "Being male is a matter of birth. Being a man is a matter of age. But being a gentleman is a matter of choice."

- Vin Diesel.

21. "A gentleman can see a question from all sides without bias. The small man is biased and can see a question only from one side."

- Confucius.

22. "A true gentleman is one who is never unintentionally rude."

- Oscar Wilde.

23. "Anyone can be heroic from time to time, but a gentleman is something which you have to be all the time. Which isn’t easy."

- Luigi Pirandello.

24. "The only infallible rule we know is, that the man who is always talking about being a gentleman never is one."

- Robert Smith Surtees.

25. "The word of a gentleman is as good as his bond; and sometimes better."

- Charles Dickens.

A gentleman has something which is one of the most important traits of a good person: impeccable manners. These gentleman quotes reflect on this! Gentleman quotes like these help in valuing the importance of the quality of being well-mannered. Here are a few gentleman quotes that are inspirational quotes for men.

26. "Manners are the root, laws only the trunk and branches... manners are children, which, when they grow up, become laws."

- Horace Mann.

27. "The great secret... is not having bad manners or good manners... but having the same manner for all human souls."

- George Bernard Shaw.

28. "It's not polite to refuse to dress for a party. It's an insult to your hostess. After all, correct dress is a part of good manners."

- Elsa Schiaparelli.

29. "The test of good manners is to be able to put up pleasantly with bad ones."

- Wendell Willkie.

30. "Manners must adorn knowledge, and smooth its way through the world. Like a great rough diamond, it may do very well in a closet by way of curiosity, and also for its intrinsic value."

- Lord Chesterfield.

31. "A man's own good breeding is the best security against other people's ill manners."

- Lord Chesterfield

32. "Good manners have much to do with the emotions. To make them ring true, one must feel them, not merely exhibit them."

- Amy Vanderbilt.

33. "Good manners reflect something from inside - an innate sense of consideration for others and respect for self."

- Emily Post.

34. "Beauty opens your eyes, intelligence opens your mind but good manners will open your heart."

- Ust. Abdulbary Yahya.

35. "For as laws are necessary that good manners be preserved, so there is need of good manners that law may be maintained."

- Niccolo Machiavelli.

36. "It doesn't matter how many A-levels you have, what kind of a degree you have, if you have good manners, people will like you."

- Kate Reardon.

37. "Good manners are just a way of showing other people that we have respect for them."

- Bill Kelly.

38. "Manners are defined not as a set of rules, but as an attitude of the heart that is self-giving, not self-serving."

- Jill Rigby Garner.

39. "Respect for ourselves guides our morals, respect for others guides our manners."

- Laurence Sterne.

40. "Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use."

- Emily Post.

41. "A man’s manners are a mirror in which he shows his portrait."

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

42. "If they respect you, respect them. If they disrespect you, still respect them."

- Mohammad Zeyara.

43. "Associate with well-mannered persons and your manners will improve."

- Stanley Walker.

44. "Good manners will open doors that the best education cannot."

- Clarence Thomas.

45. "A gentleman doesn’t have one set of manners for the house of a poor man and another for the house of someone with an income incomparable to his own.”

- William Maxwell.

One cannot just become a gentleman overnight. Here are a few being a gentleman quotes and being a real gentleman quotes that will show you the way to work the right way and become a gentleman. These famous quotes are perfect for any good man, they are truly good man quotes.

46. "The true gentleman is subtly poised between an inner tact and an outer defense."

- Puzant Kevork Thomajan.

47. "Money must be so far beneath a gentleman that it is hardly worth troubling about."

- Fyodor Dostoevsky.

48. "Repose and cheerfulness is the badge of the gentleman; repose in energy."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson.

49. "A gentleman has his eyes on all those present; he is tender toward the bashful, gentle toward the distant, and merciful toward the absent."

- Lawrence G. Lovasik.

50. "No gentleman can be without three copies of a book: one for show, one for use, and one for borrowers."

- Richard Heber.

51. "I think a gentleman is someone who holds the comfort of other people above their own. The instinct to do that is inside every good man, I believe."

- Anna Kendrick.

52. "Believe me, there exists no such dilemma as that in which a gentleman is placed when he is forced to reply to a blackguard."

- Edgar Allan Poe.

53. "It is almost a definition of a gentleman to say that he is one who never inflicts pain."

- John Henry Newman.

54. "The only principles of public conduct that are worthy of a gentleman or a man are to sacrifice estate, ease, health, and applause, and even life, to the sacred calls of his country."

- James Otis.

55. "I was brought up to be a gentleman. That means you know how to walk, talk and dress the part."

- Brian McKnight.

56. "To be a gentleman is to be oneself, all of a seam, on camera and off."

- Murray Kempton.

57. "A gentleman is one who puts more into the world than he takes out."

- George Bernard Shaw.

58. "What is a gentleman? It is to be honest, to be gentle, to be generous, to be brave, to be wise; and possessed of all these qualities to exercise them in the most graceful manner."

- William Makepeace Thackeray.

59. "Education begins the gentleman, but reading, good company and reflection must finish him."

- John Locke.

60. "This is the first test of a gentleman: his respect for those who can be of no possible value to him."

- William Lyon Phelps.

61. "Thoughtfulness for others, generosity, modesty, and self-respect are the qualities which make a real gentleman or lady."

- Thomas Huxley.

62. "Be well dressed, behave like a gentleman, and keep your shoes shined."

- Joseph Abboud.

63. "A gentleman would be ashamed should his deeds not match his words."

- Confucius.

64. "Courtesy is as much a mark of a gentleman as courage."

- Theodore Roosevelt.

65. "She was so delicate that… a leaf would fall and drift down and touch her skin, and it would leave a bruise. So as we sat in the afternoon hour, beneath that fragrant linden bower, I had to chase all of the leaves that fell away."

- Roman Payne.

Many books have been written through history where anyone can find ways to make oneself more gentleman-like. These gentleman quotes describe a gentleman perfectly.

66. "A gentleman, my Lord Father, is such whether he is on earth or on the treetop."

- Italo Calvino, 'The Baron In The Trees'.

67. "He’d often ignored his uncle’s teachings about gentlemanly behavior, but one stricture he’d always abided by: no man worth his salt took advantage of a woman."

- Sabrina Jeffries, 'Dance Of Seduction'.

68. "I never swear, Monseigneur. I say Yes or No, and as I am a gentleman, I keep my word."

- Alexandre Dumas, 'Twenty Years After'.

69. "Gentlemen always walk ladies home."

- Gabriellyn Gidman, 'The Notes In Our Hearts'.

70. "A gentleman by definition is a man who makes everyone around him feel comfortable."

- Oliver Oyanadel, 'The Fruit Of The Knowledge oO Good & Evil'.

71. "Though he was her enemy, he treated her with unfailing courtesy."

- Jacqueline Carey, 'Banewreaker'.

72. "A gentleman goes in search of flattery as keenly as a bee hunts for pollen."

- Kevin Ansbro, 'The Minotaur's Son & Other Wild Tales'.

73. "Any gentleman can tell a lie; any scoundrel can talk truth."

- Imogen Hermes Gowar, 'The Mermaid And Mrs. Hancock'.

74. "The gentleman is dignified but not arrogant. The small man is arrogant but not dignified."

- Confucius, 'The Analects'.

75. "I suppose I shall make everyone smile if I say that we were brought up to take our place in a world of gentlemen."

- Romain Gary, 'The Roots Of Heaven'.

76. "Why do we wrap the gentleman in our more rawer breath?"

- William Shakespeare, 'Hamlet'.

77. "Being a gentleman by birth certainly did not make one worthy of the name. Indeed, far too often it seemed to make one the opposite, by promising a man insulation from the consequences of sin."

- Roseanna M. White, 'On Wings Of Devotion'.

78. "It was the act of a gentleman, and Damian was as gentle as a cactus."

- Aishabella Sheikh, 'Converting The Bad Boy'.

79. "About this business of being a gentleman: I paid so heavily for the fourteen years of my gentleman’s education that I feel entitled, now and then, to get some sort of return."

- Robert Graves, 'Goodbye To All That'.

80. "A gentleman is someone who does not what he wants to do, but what he should do."

- Haruki Murakami, 'Norwegian Wood'.

We can learn quite a few things about being a gentleman from the movies. These gentleman quotes below offer a few examples.

81. "Being a gentleman has nothing to do with the circumstances of one's birth. Being a gentleman is something one learns."

- Harry Hart, 'Kingsman: The Secret Service'.

82. "Allow me to introduce myself. Rodney Skinner, gentleman thief."

- Rodney Skinner, 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'.

83. "A gentleman's quote is a gentleman's word."

- Dry Eye, 'The Gentlemen'.

84. "A gentleman's name should appear in the newspaper only three times: When he's born, when he marries, and when he dies."

- Harry Hart, 'Kingsman: The Secret Service'.

85. "I've lived long enough to see the future become history, Professor. Empires crumble. There are no exceptions."

- Dorian Gray, 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'.

86. "If you wish to be The King of the jungle, it's not enough to act like a king. You must be The King."

- Michael Pearson, 'The Gentlemen'.

87. "Manners... maketh... man. Do you know what that means? Then let me teach you a lesson."

- Harry Hart, 'Kingsman: The Golden Circle'.

88. "A suit is the modern gentleman's armour. And the Kingsman agents are the new knights."

- Harry Hart, 'Kingsman: The Secret Service'.

89. "Marksman two: What are you?

Dorian Gray: I'm complicated."

- 'The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen'.

90. "There's only one rule in the jungle: when the lion's hungry, he eats!"

- Michael Pearson, 'The Gentlemen'.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for gentleman quotes, then why not take a look at these 'A Good Man Is Hard To Find' quotes or you are awesome quotes too?