Edith Wharton

"The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it."

"True originality consists not in novelty of manner, but in clarity of vision."

"A woman must always sacrifice her life to something."

"Youth and beauty are not circumstances but essences."

"The worst of having a romance is that it leaves one so abnormally ignorant of the person one loves."

"I should like to be remembered as a writer of serious purpose."

"The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong in the broken places."

"It took me a long time not to judge myself through someone else's eyes."

"One can never pay too high a price for the privilege of owning oneself."

"The fact that I wanted to be married did not mean that I wanted to be alone."

"Silences are like rooms where thoughts echo."

"The true paradises are the paradises that we have lost."

"Life is the biggest gamble of all."

"In the deepest night of adversity, God seems most visible."

"There is only one way to be comfortable in an uncomfortable world."

"I am afraid we are not responsible for all our actions."

"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time."

"Habits form in us a second nature."

"Old age is not for the timid."

"I like good strong words that mean something."

"The valley of the shadow is always dark, but it lies between two mountain peaks of light."

"Beware of the man who makes no mistakes."

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

"Every successful person has had to overcome defeat."

"The possession of a book becomes a substitute for reading it."

"The mind wants to live forever or to create forever."

"Age is not a matter of years, but of accomplishment."

"The world is a compound of shadows and a dream."

"There is nothing more tragic than the death of a beautiful woman."

"The most successful people are those who are ready when opportunity comes."