
“When you have to kill a man it costs nothing to be polite.”
Variant: When you have to kill a man, it costs nothing to be polite.
Churchill ended his December 8, 1941 letter to the Japanese Ambassador, declaring that a state of war now existed between the United Kingdom and Japan, with the courtly flourish "I have the honour to be, with high consideration, Sir, Your obedient servant".
The Second World War, Volume III : The Grand Alliance (1950) Chapter 32 (Pearl Harbor).
Post-war years (1945–1955)
“When you have to kill a man it costs nothing to be polite.”
Variant: When you have to kill a man, it costs nothing to be polite.
“Ugly people kill people all the time. But when pretty people did, it got attention.”
Source: Kill You Twice
Asked to reveal how he would wear his hair at his first American Idol Concert Tour 2007. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/streeter/entries/2007/07/american_idol_l_2.html
"Golden Gate" in Golden Gate and Other Stories (1982)
Context: When you have shot and killed a man you have in some measure clarified your attitude toward him. You have given a definite answer to a definite problem. For better or worse you have acted decisively. In a way, the next move is up to him.
Cited in: Lawrence Delevingne. " Nobel winner Fama: Active management 'never' good. http://www.cnbc.com/id/102014057" at cnbc.com. 19 Sept. 2014.
Something So Right
Song lyrics, There Goes Rhymin' Simon (1973)