The air of ideas is the only air worth breathing.

Quote by Edith Wharton

Topics: Edith Wharton Quotes

If we'd stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time.

If we'd stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time.

A New York divorce is in itself a diploma of virtue.

A New York divorce is in itself a diploma of virtue.

Art is on the side of the oppressed. Think before you shudder at the simplistic...

Art is on the side of the oppressed. Think before you shudder at the simplistic...

If only we'd stop trying to be happy we'd have a pretty good time.

If only we'd stop trying to be happy we'd have a pretty good time.

It would presently be his task to take the bandage from this young woman's eyes,...

It would presently be his task to take the bandage from this young woman's eyes,...

Silence may be as variously shaded as speech.

Silence may be as variously shaded as speech.

Misfortune had made Lily supple instead of hardening her, and a pliable substance is less...

Misfortune had made Lily supple instead of hardening her, and a pliable substance is less...

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

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

Habit is necessary; it is the habit of having habits, of turning a trail into...

Habit is necessary; it is the habit of having habits, of turning a trail into...

The American landscape has no foreground and the American mind no background.

The American landscape has no foreground and the American mind no background.

They seemed to come suddenly upon happiness as if they had surprised a butterfly in...

They seemed to come suddenly upon happiness as if they had surprised a butterfly in...

There are moments when a man's imagination so easily subdued to what it lives in,...

There are moments when a man's imagination so easily subdued to what it lives in,...

There are moments when a man's imagination, so easily subdued to what it lives in,...

There are moments when a man's imagination, so easily subdued to what it lives in,...

To be able to look life in the face: that's worth living in a garret...

To be able to look life in the face: that's worth living in a garret...

Old age, calm, expanded, broad with the haughty breadth of the universe, old age flowing...

Old age, calm, expanded, broad with the haughty breadth of the universe, old age flowing...

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

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

Life is the only real counselor; wisdom unfiltered through personal experience does not become a...

Life is the only real counselor; wisdom unfiltered through personal experience does not become a...

I have never known a novel that was good enough to be good in spite...

I have never known a novel that was good enough to be good in spite...

When people ask for time, it's always for time to say no. Yes has one...

When people ask for time, it's always for time to say no. Yes has one...

I had the story, bit by bit, from various people, and, as generally happens in...

I had the story, bit by bit, from various people, and, as generally happens in...