Edith Wharton

He had to deal all at once with the packed regrets and stifled memories of an inarticulate lifetime. ”

Life is the only real counselor; wisdom unfiltered through personal experience does not become a part of the moral tissue. ”

Misfortune had made Lily supple instead of hardening her, and a pliable substance is less easy to break than a stiff one. ”

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

I have never known a novel that was good enough to be good in spite of its being adapted to the author's political views. ”

I don't know if I should care for a man who made life easy; I should want someone who made it interesting. ”

Life is always a tightrope or a feather bed. Give me the tightrope. ”

To be able to look life in the face: that's worth living in a garret for, isn't it? ”

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

After all, one knows one's weak points so well, that it's rather bewildering to have the critics overlook them and invent others. ”