Edith Wharton
“After all, one knows one's weak points so well, that it's rather bewildering to have the critics overlook them & invent others.”
“Habit is necessary; it is the habit of having habits, of turning a trail into a rut, that must be incessantly fought against if one is to remain alive.”
“The worst of doing one's duty was that it apparently unfitted one for doing anything else.”
“When people ask for time, it's always for time to say no.”
“No insect hangs its nest on threads as frail as those which will sustain the weight of human vanity.”
“A New York divorce is in itself a diploma of virtue.”
“Life is always a tightrope or a feather bed. Give me the tightrope.”
“True originality consists not in a new manner but in a new vision.”
“The only way not to think about money is to have a great deal of it.”
“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.”