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Washington Square Quotes

Washington Square by Henry James

Washington Square Quotes
"In a country in which, to play a social part, you must either earn your income or make believe that you earn it, the healing art has appeared in a high degree to combine two recognized sources of credit."
"Though he was felt to be extremely thorough, he was not uncomfortably theoretic; and if he sometimes explained matters rather more minutely than might seem of use to the patient, he never went so far as to trust to the explanation alone."
"The fact of his having married a rich woman made no difference in the line he had traced for himself, and he cultivated his profession with as definite a purpose as if he still had no other resources than his fraction of the modest patrimony."
"It must be confessed that fortune had favored him, and that he had found the path to prosperity very soft to his tread."
"He was very witty, and he passed in the best society of New York for a man of the world - which, indeed, he was, in a very sufficient degree."
"He was an observer, even a philosopher, and to be bright was so natural to him, and (as the popular voice said) came so easily, that he never aimed at mere effect."
"Good for what? You are good for nothing unless you are clever."
"The doctor's wine was admirable, and it may be communicated to the reader that while he sipped it Morris reflected that a cellarful of good liquor would be a most attractive idiosyncrasy in a father-in-law."
"Catherine does very well; she has a style of her own - which is more than my poor Marian has, who has no style at all."
"It is a great thing to keep up with the new things. I always try and keep up with the new things of every kind."
"It must be deucedly pleasant for a plain, inanimate girl like that to have a beautiful young fellow come and sit down beside her, and whisper to her that he is her slave."
"You are too modest. In addition to your good right arm you have your subtle brain."
"I shall be very sorry to admit that a robust and well-disposed young man need ever despair."
"I don't know what to answer when you say that."
"It won't make my fortune, but it is very proper."
"Women have more tact. They ought to do it first. They are more conciliating; they can persuade better."
"He is not sentimental, but I think he has, in his own narrow way, a certain sense of duty."
"I have an immense respect for my father, and I feel that to displease him would be a misdemeanor analogous to an act of profanity in a great temple."
"She knew her father was in his study - that he had been there all evening; from time to time she expected to hear him move."
"You are a dear, faithful child," he said, at last. "Come here to your father."
"I should like to - but I am afraid I can't," Catherine answered.
"It is better to be unhappy for three months and get over it, than for many years and never get over it."
"Your engagement will have one delightful effect upon you; it will make you extremely impatient for that event."
"He has never done anything - he is a selfish idler."
"It may not prevent me, either, from losing the society of still another."
"I have done what I could; it has been very little."
"I think I know him now; I have had such remarkable opportunities."
"I would have been very happy to have a handsome and tyrannical son, and would have taken an extreme interest in his love affairs."
"Handling bruises, and even dropping tears on them, doesn't make them any better!"
"I am not sure you understand. I can't promise that."
"It is my belief that that's why he goes. He wants so much to see you."
"I am afraid you would say that. But you don't seem surprised!"
"He says I am not in the least changed. You know how polite he always was."
"She has had a great shock; it was as if the gulf of the past had suddenly opened, and a spectral figure had risen out of it."