Edith Wharton
Born: 01-23-1862
Edith Wharton was an influential American novelist and designer, born in 1862. Known for her vivid depiction of Gilded Age society, she became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction with "The Age of Innocence" in 1921. Wharton's works, including "Ethan Frome" and "The House of Mirth," explore themes of social class and moral dilemmas. Her keen insights into human nature solidified her legacy in American literature.
Book summaries for books written by Edith Wharton
Quotes
She had been taught that if you didn't get what you wanted, you must just go on wanting it; but she found that a rather lonely business.
One mustn't expect people to be perfect. We must all make allowances for each other's weak points.
How dreary to be always thinking of one's own advantage! One's own advantage doesn't seem to me a very interesting subject for thought.
I don't know that I ever wanted anybody else's life; but I wanted my own so tremendously.
The only thing that makes one think of death is the fear of missing something.
Life's always a bit of a mess, and death's the only orderly thing I know.
It takes a great deal of courage to be truthful without being brutal.
We've all got to be brave sometimes; it's the only thing to be when one can't be happy.
There's no such thing as a perfect person; that's only a poetical idea of Heaven.
After all, it's not what we've got, but what we make of what we've got, that counts.
Too much sensibility is a great mistake in a woman; it leads them to exaggerate their own troubles and to imagine other people's.
The past isn't a very nice place to live in, Nan; it's haunted.