And he felt himself oppressed ...

And he felt himself oppressed by this creation of factitious purity, so cunningly manufactured by a conspiracy of mothers and aunts and grandmothers and long-dead ancestresses, because it was supposed to be what he wanted, what he had a right to, in order that he might exercise his lordly pleasure in smashing it like an image made of snow.
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 Edith Wharton

Quotes from the same author

Life is the only real counselor; wisdom unfiltered through personal experience does not become a part of the moral tissue.
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 Edith Wharton
There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
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 Edith Wharton
If only wed stop trying to be happy wed have a pretty good time.
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 Edith Wharton
...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.
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 Edith Wharton
I was never allowed to read the popular American children's books of my day because, as my mother said, the children spoke bad English without the author's knowing it.
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 Edith Wharton