Logo - Feel The Words

Genteel Quotes

Elegance and refined manners

These quotes describe genteel figures and settings, including historical accounts of a smooth, powerful man and the polished high society of classic 19th century novels.

A lot of people say, 'I always knew Lucky Luciano as a very smooth, very elegant, very powerful man.' All the accounts of him as an older man were that he was very genteel but he still had the look...

Quotes by Vincent Piazza

There's such a wealth of literature from the 18th century and 19th century, George Eliot... Jane Austen... that's all about a genteel high society, relationships, all of that stuff. There wasn't ever really, apart from Dickens, a literary evocation of...

Quotes by Steven Knight

Awards shows are being pushed to shed their genteel limousine liberalism and embrace the race-gender-sexual identity agenda in full.

Quotes by Ross Douthat

Writing is not a genteel profession; it's quite nasty and tough and kind of dirty.

Quotes by Rosemary Mahoney

Accounts Quotes

Everyone's surprised when they meet me. I guess it's because I've played tough cookies for so long... It's what I do best. I'm not sure I could pull off a genteel Southern belle.

Quotes by Rhea Perlman

A rude nature is worse than a brute nature by so much more as man is better than a beast: and those that are of civil natures and genteel dispositions are as much nearer to celestial creatures as those that...

Quotes by Margaret Cavendish

I am a journalist in the field of etiquette. I try to find out what the most genteel people regularly do, what traditions they have discarded, what compromises they have made.

Quotes by Amy Vanderbilt

Frequently Asked Questions

What does genteel mean in the context of these quotes?
It refers to refined manners and elegant social bearing, whether describing a historical figure or a whole era of high society literature.
Is there a quote describing a real historical figure as genteel?
Yes, one recalls Lucky Luciano being remembered in his older years as smooth, elegant, and genteel despite his past.
Do any quotes tie genteel to classic literature?
One line points to 18th and 19th century writers like George Eliot and Jane Austen as capturing genteel high society and its relationships.
Is the word genteel always used positively here?
Not always; one modern quote uses it critically, describing outdated genteel comfort that awards shows are being pushed to move beyond.
Where can I read more about related qualities like this?
The Better page explores similar ideas about refinement and improving how people carry themselves.

A sharper line argues that civil, genteel natures sit closer to something noble, while a modern quote uses the word critically toward outdated social comfort.