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100 Motivational Quotes By Edith Wharton That Throw Light On The Beauty Of Life

Famous As: Writer
Born On: January 24, 1862
Died On: August 11, 1937
Born In: New York City
Died At Age: 75

Author of ‘The Age of Innocence’ that earned her a Pulitzer Prize in 1920, Edith Wharton was a multi-talented figure of the early 20th century. An author, short story writer, novelist and designer, Wharton’s cutting edge was her work that was directed on the contemporary upper-class society - its qualms, norms and privileges. Born into one such family herself, she gave an inside view of America's privileged class from her first-hand experience. Wharton’s stories have an air of natural wit and humor to them. Written with a brilliant command over language, she gave an insight view of the social and psychological problems of the aristocratic New York society. Most of her stories revolved around the tragic heroes and heroines who were above-average intellectually and emotionally and wanted more out of life than mere luxuries. They challenged the social taboos at every step of their life but could not do much to bring in a social change or overcome the barriers of social convention. Being a member of the privileged class, most of Wharton’s works reflected her personal experiences, opinions and passions. The same can be said for her quotes too that give a new outlook to life and touch a wide variety of genres including humor, life, sadness, education, knowledge, class, faith and so on. Explore some of the top quotes by Edith Wharton.  

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

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

Edith Wharton
Set wide the window. Let me drink the day.

Set wide the window. Let me drink the day.

Edith Wharton
My little old dog
a heart-beat
at my feet

My little old dog a heart-beat at my feet

Edith Wharton
Life is always either a tightrope or a feather bed. Give me the tightrope.

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

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

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

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

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

Edith Wharton
Each time you happen to me all over again.

Each time you happen to me all over again.

Edith Wharton
The real loneliness is living among all these kind people who only ask one to pretend!

The real loneliness is living among all these kind people who only ask one to pretend!

Edith Wharton
Ah, good conversation - there's nothing like it, is there? The air of ideas is the only air worth breathing.

Ah, good conversation - there's nothing like it, is there? The air of ideas is the only air worth breathing.

Edith Wharton
There is one friend in the life of each of us who seems not a separate person, however dear and beloved, but an expansion, an interpretation, of one's self, the very meaning of one's soul.

There is one friend in the life of each of us who seems not a separate person, however dear and beloved, but an expansion, an interpretation, of one's self, the very meaning of one's soul.

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

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

Edith Wharton
We can't behave like people in novels, though, can we?

We can't behave like people in novels, though, can we?

Edith Wharton
My little dog—a heartbeat at my feet.

My little dog—a heartbeat at my feet.

Edith Wharton
She had no tolerance for scenes which were not of her own making.

She had no tolerance for scenes which were not of her own making.

Edith Wharton
In reality they all lived in a kind of hieroglyphic world, where the real thing was never said or done or even thought, but only represented by a set of arbitrary signs.

In reality they all lived in a kind of hieroglyphic world, where the real thing was never said or done or even thought, but only represented by a set of arbitrary signs.

Edith Wharton
Do you remember what you said to me once? That you could help me only by loving me? Well-you did love me for a moment; and it helped me. It has always helped me.

Do you remember what you said to me once? That you could help me only by loving me? Well-you did love me for a moment; and it helped me. It has always helped me.

Edith Wharton
Genius is of small use to a woman who does not know how to do her hair.

Genius is of small use to a woman who does not know how to do her hair.

Edith Wharton
What Lily craved was the darkness made by enfolding arms, the silence which is not solitude, but compassion holding its breath.

What Lily craved was the darkness made by enfolding arms, the silence which is not solitude, but compassion holding its breath.

Edith Wharton
Silence may be as variously shaded as speech.

Silence may be as variously shaded as speech.

Edith Wharton
I swear I only want to hear about you, to know what you've been doing. It's a hundred years since we've met-it may be another hundred before we meet again.

I swear I only want to hear about you, to know what you've been doing. It's a hundred years since we've met-it may be another hundred before we meet again.

Edith Wharton
She was so evidently the victim of the civilization which had produced her, that the links of her bracelet seemed like manacles chaining her to her fate.

She was so evidently the victim of the civilization which had produced her, that the links of her bracelet seemed like manacles chaining her to her fate.

Edith Wharton
The real marriage of true minds is for any two people to possess a sense of humor or irony pitched in exactly the same key, so that their joint glances on any subject cross like interarching searchlights.

The real marriage of true minds is for any two people to possess a sense of humor or irony pitched in exactly the same key, so that their joint glances on any subject cross like interarching searchlights.

Edith Wharton
Nothing is more perplexing to a man than the mental process of a woman who reasons her emotions.

Nothing is more perplexing to a man than the mental process of a woman who reasons her emotions.

Edith Wharton
It was easy enough to despise the world, but decidedly difficult to find any other habitable region.

It was easy enough to despise the world, but decidedly difficult to find any other habitable region.

Edith Wharton
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.

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
But after a moment a sense of waste and ruin overcame him. There they were, close together and safe and shut in; yet so chained to their separate destinies that they might as well been half the world apart.

But after a moment a sense of waste and ruin overcame him. There they were, close together and safe and shut in; yet so chained to their separate destinies that they might as well been half the world apart.

Edith Wharton
And you'll sit beside me, and we'll look, not at visions, but at realities.

And you'll sit beside me, and we'll look, not at visions, but at realities.

Edith Wharton
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.

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
...though she had not had the strength to shake off the spell that bound her to him she had lost all spontaneity of feeling, and seemed to herself to be passively awaiting a fate she could not avert.

...though she had not had the strength to shake off the spell that bound her to him she had lost all spontaneity of feeling, and seemed to herself to be passively awaiting a fate she could not avert.

Edith Wharton
Everything may be labelled- but everybody is not.

Everything may be labelled- but everybody is not.

Edith Wharton