| C.N. Douglas, comp. Forty Thousand Quotations: Prose and Poetical. 1917. | | | | Awkwardness |
| | | Awkwardness is a more real disadvantage than it is generally thought to be; it often occasions ridicule, it always lessens dignity. Chesterfield. | 1 |
| | Not all the pumice of the polish’d town |
| Can smooth the roughness of the barnyard clown; |
| Rich, honor’d, titled, he betrays his race |
| By this one mark—he’s awkward in his face. |
Holmes. | 2 |
| | Awkward, embarrassed, stiff, without the skill |
| Of moving gracefully or standing still, |
| One leg, as if suspicious of his brother, |
| Desirous seems to run away from t’other. |
Churchill. | 3 |
| | What’s a fine person, or a beauteous face, |
| Unless deportment gives them decent grace? |
| Blessed with all other requisites to please, |
| Some want the striking elegance of ease; |
| The curious eye their awkward movement tires: |
| They seem like puppets led about by wires. |
Churchill. | 4 | | |
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