The essence of taste is suitability. Divest the word of its prim and priggish implications, and see how it expresses the mysterious demand of the eye and mind for symmetry, harmony and order. Edith Wharton More Quotes by Edith Wharton More Quotes From Edith Wharton One of the first obligations of art is to make all useful things beautiful. Edith Wharton beautifulartfirsts [I]t's safer to be fond of dangerous people. Edith Wharton dangerouspeople There's nothing grimmer than the tragedy that wears a comic mask. Edith Wharton maskcomictragedy His whole future seemed suddenly to be unrolled before him; and passing down its endless emptiness he saw the dwindling figure of a man to whom nothing was ever to happen. Edith Wharton emptinesssawsmen Then stay with me a little longer,' Madame Olenska said in a low tone, just touching his knee with her plumed fan. It was the lightest touch, but it thrilled him like a caress. Edith Wharton touchingfanslittles I was a failure in Boston...because they thought I was too fashionable to be intelligent, and a failure in New York because they were afraid I was too intelligent to be fashionable. Edith Wharton bostonintelligentnew-york It was amusement enough to be with a group of fearless and talkative girls, who said new things in a new language, who were ignorant of tradition and unimpressed by distinctions of rank; but it was soon clear that their young hostesses must be treated with the same respect, if not with the same ceremony as English girls of good family. Edith Wharton fearlessignorantgirl Charity, till then, had been conscious only of a vague self-disgust and a frightening physical distress; now, of a sudden, there came to her the grave surprise of motherhood. Edith Wharton charitymotherhoodself Archer reddened to the temples but dared not move or speak: it was as if her words had been some rare butterfly that the least motion might drive off on startled wings, but that might gather a flock if it were left undisturbed. Edith Wharton archerbutterflymoving They are all alike you know. They hold their tongues for years and you think you're safe, but when the opportunity comes they remember everything. Edith Wharton remembers-everythingopportunitythinking Since the Americans have ceased to have dyspepsia, they have lost the only thing that gave them any expression. Edith Wharton united-statesexpressionlost Beauty (was)a gift which, in the eyes of New York, justified every success, and excused a certain number of failings. Edith Wharton eyenew-yorknumbers The American landscape has no foreground and the American mind no background. Edith Wharton landscapeliteraturemind 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. Edith Wharton politicalliteratureviews Staunch & faithful little lovers that they are, they give back a hundred fold every sign of love one ever gives them — & it mitigates the pang of losing them to know how very happy a little affection has made them . Edith Wharton faithfulloversgiving To your generation, I must represent the literary equivalent of tufted furniture and gas chandeliers. Edith Wharton gasfurnituregenerations She said she knew we were safe with you, and always would be, because once, when she asked you to, you'd given up the thing you most wanted." Archer received this strange communication in silence. His eyes remained unseeingly fixed on the thronged sunlit square below the window. At length he said in a low voice: "She never asked me. Edith Wharton archercommunicationeye Through this atmosphere of torrid splendor moved wan beings as richly upholstered as the furniture, beings without definite pursuits or permanent relations, who drifted on a languid tide of curiosity... Somewhere behind them, in the background of their lives there was doubtless a real past, yet they had no more real existence than the poet's shades in limbo. Edith Wharton atmosphererealpast How I hate everything! Edith Wharton i-hatehate She wanted, passionately and persistently, two things which she believed should subsist together in any well-ordered life: amusement and respectability. Edith Wharton amusementtogethertwo
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