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About this quote

What does it mean?
Politeness often masks a lack of genuine engagement or care.
In plain terms
Being polite can mean you do not truly care about others.
What can you take from it?
True connection requires more than just courteous behavior.

Where it applies

  • social gatherings
  • professional settings
  • superficial exchanges

Putting it to work

  • evaluating social interactions
  • practicing genuine empathy

Questions to consider

  • When does politeness feel cold?
  • How do you show real care?

Another view

Politeness can also be a sign of respect without indifference.

More from Paul Valery

  1. The purpose of psychology is to give us a completely different idea of the things we know best.

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  2. Politics is the art of stopping people from minding their own business.

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  3. God created man, and finding him not sufficiently alone, gave him a female companion so that he might feel his solitude more acutely.

    Permalink to quote #17

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