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
One can remain alive ... if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity interested in big things and happy in small ways.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Embracing change and finding joy in simplicity leads to a fulfilling life.
In this quote, Edith Wharton emphasizes the importance of being open to change and maintaining a deep intellectual curiosity. She suggests that a fulfilling life is not only about seeking grand experiences but also appreciating the small joys that everyday moments can bring, advocating for balance between ambition and contentment.
Themes
ChangeCuriosityJoyLifeContentment
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used during a motivational speech about personal growth and adaptability.
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
Similar quotes
Each book I write is a shout into the silence and a prayer and a plea for change.
Jacqueline WoodsonRead
As a black and as a woman, I didn't think that I would really want to live in any of the eras before this, because I would inevitably be worse off. I would have spent more time struggling just to prove I was human than doing my work.
Octavia E. ButlerRead
As more and more women, men and young people raise their voices and become active in local government, and more local leaders take action for the safety of women and girls, change happens.
Michelle BacheletRead
Change is the principal feature of our age and literature should explore how people deal with it. The best science fiction does that, head-on.
David BrinRead
Do one of three things. One, go find a wailing wall and feel sorry for yourselves. Two, go psycho and start bombing - but this will only swing people to the right. Three, learn a lesson. Go home, organize, build power and at the next convention, you be the delegates.
Saul AlinskyRead
The truth is that a number of us have been saying for quite some time that it was only a matter of time until someone went to a gun show, bought a military-like semi-automatic assault weapon with a large capacity magazine, and did enormous damage.
David PetraeusRead