Martin, Judith -- Miss Manners’ Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior, Part 3 “Basic Civilization,” “Table Manners” (1983)

Dave — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 19:14:12 +0000

Do you have a kinder, more adaptable friend in the food world than soup? Who soothes you when you are ill? Who refuses to leave you when you are impoverished and stretches its resources to give a hearty sustenance and cheer? Who warms you in the winter and cools you in the summer? Yet who also is capable of doing honor to your richest table and impressing your most demanding guests? […]
Soup does its loyal best, no matter what undignified conditions are imposed upon it. But soup knows the difference. Soup is sensitive. You don’t catch steak hanging around when you’re poor and sick, do you? Soup deserves to be treated well.

Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
Miss Manners’ Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior, Part 3 “Basic Civilization,” “Table Manners” (1983)
(Source)

Included in the 2005 edition.

WIST Quotations

Martin, Judith -- Miss Manners’ Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior, Part 3 “Basic Civilization,” “Table Manners” (1983)