Euphemisms are not, as many young people think, useless verbiage for that which can and should be said bluntly; they are like secret agents on a delicate mission, they must airily pass by a stinking mess with barely so much as a nod of the head, make their point of constructive criticism and continue on in calm forbearance. Euphemisms are unpleasant truths wearing diplomatic cologne.
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Tact is knowing how far to go too far.
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So long as the laws remain such as they are today, employ some discretion: loud opinion forces us to do so; but in privacy and silence let us compensate ourselves for that cruel chastity we are obliged to display in public.
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The art of the parenthesis is one of the greatest secrets of eloquence in Society.
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Tact is the art of making guests feel at home when that's really where you wish they were.
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Tact in audacity consists in knowing how far we may go too far.
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Without tact you can learn nothing. Tact teaches you when to be silent. Inquirers who are always questioning never learn anything.
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It is tact that is golden, not silence.
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To have the reputation of possessing the most perfect social tact, talk to every woman as if you loved her, and to every man as if he bored you.
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Perseverance and tact are the two great qualities most valuable for all those who would climb, but especially for those who have to step out of the crowd.
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Silence is not always tact, but it is tact that is golden, not silence.
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'Tis ill talking of halters in the house of a man that was hanged.
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One shouldn't talk of halters in the hanged man's house.
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