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 WhartonRead
...I have always lived on contrasts! To me the only death is monotony. Beware of monotony; it's the mother of all the deadly sins.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of variety in life and warns against the dangers of monotony.
Edith Wharton's quote reveals her belief that a life filled with contrasts and variety is essential for vitality and creativity. She warns that monotony can lead to stagnation and is detrimental to the human spirit, framing it as a fundamental sin that can rob life of its richness and joy.
Themes
MonotonyVarietyLifeContrastCreativity
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about embracing change, one can quote Edith Wharton to highlight the significance of avoiding routine.
More from Edith Wharton
All quotes βThey seemed to come suddenly upon happiness as if they had surprised a butterfly in the winter woods
Edith WhartonRead
Set wide the window. Let me drink the day.
Edith WhartonRead
And I wonder, among all the tangles of this mortal coil, which one contains tighter knots to undo, & consequently suggests more tugging, & pain, & diversified elements of misery, than the marriage tie.
Edith WhartonRead
As he paid the hansom and followed his wife's long train into the house he took refuge in the comforting platitude that the first six months were always the most difficult in marriage. 'After that I suppose we shall have pretty nearly finished rubbing off each otherβs angles,' he reflected; but the worst of it was that May's pressure was already bearing on the very angles whose sharpness he most wanted to keep
Edith WhartonRead
There are two ways to spread happiness; either be the light who shines it or be the mirror who reflects it.
Edith WhartonRead
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