No insect hangs its nest on threads as frail as those which will sustain the weight of human vanity.

Make ones center of life inside ones self, not selfishly or excludingly, but with a kind of unassailable serenity.

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

... caprice is as ruinous as routine.

Don't you ever mind," she asked suddenly, "not being rich enough to buy all the books you want?

She had been bored all afternoon by Percy Gryce... but she could not ignore him on the morrow, she must follow up her success, must submit to more boredom, must be ready with fresh compliances and adaptibilities, and all on the bare chance that he might ultimately decide to do her the honour of boring her for life.

Only the fact that we are unaware how well our nearest know us enables us to live with them. Love is the most impregnable refuge of self-esteem, and we hate the eye that reaches to our nakedness. Edith Wharton ~ The Touchstone