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The Kennedys tried to avoid using the big U-shaped table, but when they couldn't, they had several tricks - including keeping the flowers simple - to keep it from appearing overly stiff and formal.
Letitia Baldrige -
If you really screw up, send roses.
Letitia Baldrige
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Jeans should never be worn to someone's home if you are having dinner there.
Letitia Baldrige -
Good manners are cost effective. They not only increase the quality of life in the workplace, they contribute to employee morale, embellish the company image, and play a major role in generating profit.
Letitia Baldrige -
The '80s have not been a gracious decade, and people are seeking ways to be nice to each other.
Letitia Baldrige -
Make people have a smile when they finish your e-mail.
Letitia Baldrige -
I'm a businesswoman, and Ms. is an appropriate form of address.
Letitia Baldrige -
What the bride should do is call guests who have young children and say: 'I'd love to have the kids at the wedding, but we won't have room. Would you get a baby sitter, and when we get back from our honeymoon, we'll have you guys over?'
Letitia Baldrige
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The First Lady has a lot of power. I hope Hillary Clinton realizes that.
Letitia Baldrige -
Tea time is a chance to slow down, pull back and appreciate our surroundings.
Letitia Baldrige -
Crashing could not be more inconsiderate to a host. It is a negative act because hosts likely have a particular plan for the event, an intention to move guests' attitudes in a certain direction.
Letitia Baldrige -
If you care enough to look right, you care enough to act right. And vice versa.
Letitia Baldrige -
Manners make the world work. They're not only based on kindness but also efficiency. When people know what to do, the world is smoother. When no one knows what to do, it's chaos.
Letitia Baldrige -
For every step forward in electronic communications, we've taken two steps back in humanity. People know how to use a computer and answering machines but have forgotten how to connect with one another. Our society is unraveling. We're too self-obsessed.
Letitia Baldrige
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A real thank you does not come by e-mail. They come in the mail in an envelope. And what comes out of an envelope is a beautiful thing to touch and to handle and to pass around for everyone to read.
Letitia Baldrige -
Business colleagues who have not seen each other for a long time but who have a good relationship can always shake hands warmly and grab each other's right upper arm or shoulder with their free left hand. Men and women executives should not kiss each other in public.
Letitia Baldrige -
Arranging an official dinner in an embassy is a little like writing a script for a play. The prolog is the guest list, often the most difficult part of the whole creative operation.
Letitia Baldrige -
Jeans of any sort should not be worn in nice restaurants. They pollute the landscape. They should also not be worn in the workplace if no other workers wear them. However, if your office is casual, go for it.
Letitia Baldrige -
Backpacks are obtrusive. They're great for school kids and mountaineers, but a woman is supposed to look enticing and glamorous at night. They obscure one of a woman's most erogenous zones, the nape of her neck. I suppose they're good if you want to keep men away.
Letitia Baldrige -
To have people to the White House and worry about the price of things is laughable.
Letitia Baldrige
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We have lost the art of conversation. People are shy and don't know how to approach other people, and they are missing opportunities for relationships. And no one's entertaining at home anymore. They're not having people over for dinner.
Letitia Baldrige -
For every rude executive who makes it to the top, there are nine successful executives with good manners.
Letitia Baldrige -
Doubleday is used to my talking about manners because I am, after all, known for that, and that's my persona.
Letitia Baldrige -
If you are someone's guest on a corporate jet, the most important thing to remember is not just to be on time, but to be early. If you hold up the departure of the jet by as much as 10 minutes, you may cause the plane to wait in line for another hour or two before obtaining new clearance.
Letitia Baldrige