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It was the old New York way of taking life "without effusion of blood": the way of people who dreaded scandal more than disease, who placed decency above courage, and who considered that nothing was more ill-bred than "scenes," except the behaviour of those who gave rise to them.

— Edith Wharton The Age of Innocence (1920)

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More quotes by Edith Wharton

The worst of doing one's duty was that it apparently unfitted one for doing anything else.

The Age of Innocence (1920)

There are two ways of spreading light: to be
The candle or the mirror that reflects it.

Vesalius in Zante (1564)

The only way not to think about money is to have a great deal of it.

The House of Mirth (1905)

True originality consists not in a new manner but in a new vision.

The Writing of Fiction (1925)

No insect hangs its nest on threads as frail as those which will sustain the weight of human vanity.

The House of Mirth (1905)

All Edith Wharton quotes →

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Edith Wharton (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.