Manners
Overview
 
In sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...

, manners are the unenforced standards of conduct
Conduct
Conduct may refer to:*Behavior**a personal behavior, a way of acting and showing one's behaviour**using hand gestures to direct*Action , in relation to moral or ethical precepts*Conducting a musical ensemble...

 which demonstrate that a person is proper, polite
Politeness
Politeness is best expressed as the practical application of good manners or etiquette. It is a culturally-defined phenomenon, and therefore what is considered polite in one culture can sometimes be quite rude or simply eccentric in another cultural context....

, and refined. They are like law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

s in that they codify or set a standard for human behavior, but they are unlike laws in that there is no formal system for punishing transgressions, the main informal "punishment" being social disapproval. They are a kind of norm
Norm (sociology)
Social norms are the accepted behaviors within a society or group. This sociological and social psychological term has been defined as "the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors. These rules may be explicit or implicit...

. What is considered "mannerly" is highly susceptible to change with time, geographical location, social stratum, occasion, and other factors.
Quotations

Etiquette...means behaving yourself a little better than is absolutely essential.

Will Cuppy, How to Be a Hermit, 1929

Good manners are made up of petty sacrifices.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Letters and Social Aims

Life is not so short but that there is always time enough for courtesy.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Letters and Social Aims

Politeness is the art of choosing among one's real thoughts.

Abel Stevens, Life of Mme. de Sta

Be not deceived: Evil communications corrupt good manners.

All Politeness is owing to Liberty. We polish one another, and rub off our Corners and rough Sides by a sort of amicable Collision. To restrain this, is inevitably to bring a Rust upon Mens Understandings.

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times (1711), "Sensus Communis"

 
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