It had been so long since she had seen him and she had lived on memories until they were worn thin.
Margaret MitchellPerhaps - I want the old days back again and they'll never come back, and I am haunted by the memory of them and of the world falling about my ears.
Margaret MitchellMake up your mind to this. If you are different, you are isolated, not only from people of your own age but from those of your parents' generation and from your children's generation too. They'll never understand you and they'll be shocked no matter what you do. But your grandparents would probably be proud of you and say: 'Theres a chip off the old block,' and your grandchildren will sigh enviously and say: 'What an old rip Grandma must have been!' and they'll try to be like you.
Margaret MitchellHow wonderful to know someone who was bad and dishonorable and a cheat and a liar, when all the world was filled with people who would not lie to save their souls and who would rather starve than do a dishonorable deed!
Margaret MitchellSo I have. Let me hold the baby, Scarlett. Oh, I know how to hold babies. I have many strange accomplishments. Well, he certainly looks like Frank. All except the whiskers, but give him time.” “I hope not. It’s a girl.
Margaret MitchellShe hasn't your strength. She's never had any strength. She's never had anything but heart.
Margaret MitchellShe was darkness and he was darkness and there had never been anything before this time, only darkness and his lips upon her. She tried to speak and his mouth was over hers again. Suddenly she had a wild thrill such as she had never known; joy, fear, madness, excitement, surrender to arms that were too strong, lips too bruising, fate that moved too fast.
Margaret MitchellYes, as Rhett had prophesied, marriage could be a lot of fun. Not only was it fun but she was learning many things. That was odd in itself, because Scarlett had thought life could teach her no more. Now she felt like a child, every day on the brink of a new discovery.
Margaret MitchellThe South produced statesmen and soldiers, planters and doctors, lawyers and poets, but certainly not engineers or mechanics. Let the Yankees adopt such low callings.
Margaret MitchellAll really nice girls wonder when men don't try to kiss them. They know they shouldn't want them to and they know they must act insulted if they do, but just the same, they wish the men would try.
Margaret MitchellIt is axiomatic among writers that no one ever sues the writer of an unsuccessful book. Just let a book go over twenty-five thousand copies and it is surprising how many people's feelings are hurt, how many screwballs think their brain children have been stolen, and how many people feel that they have been portrayed in a manner calculated to bring infamy upon them.
Margaret MitchellVanity was stronger than love at sixteen and there was no room in her hot heart now for anything but hate.
Margaret MitchellLike most girls, her imagination carried her just as far as the altar and no further.
Margaret MitchellNo matter what rallying cries the orators give to the idiots who fight, no matter what noble purposes they assign to wars, there is never but one reason for a war. And that is money. All wars are in reality money squabbles.
Margaret Mitchell[Yankees] are pretty much like southerners except with worse manners, of course, and terrible accents.
Margaret MitchellHunger gnawed at her empty stomach again and she said aloud: 'As God is my witness, and God is my witness, the Yankees aren't going to lick me. I'm going to live through this, and when it's over, I'm never going to be hungry again. No, nor any of my folks. If I have to steal or kill - as God is my witness, I'm never going to be hungry again.
Margaret MitchellHe made her play and she had almost forgotten how. Life had been so serious and so bitter. He knew how to play and swept her along with him.
Margaret MitchellIn the end what will happen will be what has happened whenever a civilization breaks up. The people who have brains and courage come through and the ones who haven't are winnowed out.
Margaret MitchellMadam, you flatter yourself. I do not want to marry you or anyone else. I am not a marrying man. - Rhett Butler
Margaret MitchellThe whole world can't lick us but we can lick ourselves by longing too hard for things we haven't got any more - and by remembering too much.
Margaret MitchellIf! If! If! There were so many ifs in life, never any sense of security, always the dread of losing everything.
Margaret MitchellDid you ever hear the Oriental proverb, "The dogs bark but the caravan passes on"? Let them bark, Scarlett. I fear nothing will stop your caravan.
Margaret MitchellForgive me for startling you with the impetuosity of my sentiments, my dear Scarlett—I mean, my dear Mrs. Kennedy. It cannot have escaped your notice that for some time past the friendship I have had in my heart for you has ripened into a deeper feeling, a feeling more beautiful, more pure, more sacred. Dare I name it you? Ah! It is love which makes me so bold!
Margaret MitchellYou must be more gentle, dear, more sedate,' Ellen told her daughter. 'You must not interrupt gentlemen when they are speaking, even if you do think you know more about matters than they do. Gentlemen do not like forward girls.
Margaret MitchellI'll think of it tomorrow, at Tara. I can stand it then. Tomorrow, I'll think of some way to get him back. After all, tomorrow is another day.
Margaret MitchellHush," he said. "I am asking you to marry me. Would you be convinced if I knelt down?
Margaret MitchellIt was this feminine conspiracy which made Southern society so pleasant. Women knew that a land where men were contented, uncontradicted ans safe in possession of unpunctured vanity was likely to be a very pleasant place for women to live. So, from the cradle to the grave, women strove to make men pleased with themselves, and the satisfied men repaid lavishly with gallantry and adoration. In fact, men willingly gave ladies everything in the world except credit for having intelligence.
Margaret MitchellBabies, babies, babies. Why did God make so many babies? But no, God didn't make them. Stupid people made them.
Margaret MitchellI can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow.
Margaret Mitchellyou can go to the Devil and not at your leisure. You can go now, for all I care.' 'My pet, I've been to the Devil and he's a very dull fellow. I won't go there again, not even for you.
Margaret MitchellIt doesn’t matter who you marry, as long as he thinks like you and is a gentleman and a Southerner and prideful. For a woman, love comes after marriage.” “Oh, Pa, that’s such an Old Country notion!” “And a good notion it is! All this American business of running around marrying for love, like servants, like Yankees! The best marriages are when the parents choose for the girl. For how can a silly piece like yourself tell a good man from a scoundrel?
Margaret MitchellI can't make you understand because you don't know the meaning of fear. You have the heart of a lion and an utter lack of imagination and I envy you both of those qualities. You'll never mind facing realities and you'll never want to escape from them as I do.
Margaret MitchellFighting is like champagne. It goes to the heads of cowards as quickly as of heroes. Any fool can be brave on a battlefield when it's be brave or else be killed.
Margaret MitchellSuddenly she felt strong and happy. She was not afraid of the darkness or the fog and she knew with a singing in her heart that she would never fear them again. No matter what mists might curl around her in the future, she knew her refuge. She started briskly up the street toward home and the blocks seemed very long. Far, far too long. She caught up her skirts to her knees and began to run lightly. But this time she was not running from fear. She was running because Rhett's arms were at the end of the street.
Margaret MitchellSo you’ll have to wait for approval from your grandchildren.” “I wonder what our grandchildren will be like!” “Are you suggesting by that ‘our’ that you and I will have mutual grandchildren? Fie, Mrs. Kennedy!
Margaret MitchellYou're so brutal to those who love you, Scarlett. You take their love and hold it over their heads like a whip.
Margaret MitchellThey knew that love snatched in the face of danger and death was doubly sweet for the strange excitement that went with it.
Margaret Mitchell