Anna Godbersen Quotes & Sayings

But I wanted to tell you before I left how completely abjectly sorry I am for all the pain I have caused you and that if I die you were the one true love of my life. By the time you read this I will be gone but please know I am still always at your side ... Yours forever Henery William Schoonmaker — Anna Godbersen

Marriage is a mystery that one would be wise not to solve too hastily.
Marve De Jong, Love And Other Follies Of The Great Families Of Old New York — Anna Godbersen

But in that moment she realized how false most smiles were and what a tremendous waste of time. — Anna Godbersen

I know it's going to sound funny, but I know you've been hanging around with that Billie Marsh, so maybe it won't be strange after all. Would you be my best man - or, I don't know, my best lady? — Anna Godbersen

Interesting people were her favorite hobby. She collected them: the type who did gay things late at night and smoked cigarettes in mixed company, those would have most scandalized her own mother. — Anna Godbersen

Oh yes, well, I find myself unconventional everywhere. — Anna Godbersen

After Henry's treatment of her she wasn't sure that men could honestly love women but she wanted to believe it. She wanted to be told pretty things and for the frightening clip of her heart to slow to something more reasonable. — Anna Godbersen

Instead, he sat in the parlor of his family's Fifth Avenue mansion, growing older by the minute just like everybody else. — Anna Godbersen

She thought of Henry and Diana on the stoop gazing at each other with the confusion and sadness of two puppies who have just stumbled into their first puddle and not yet come to understand what has happened to them and found that she wanted to lie extravagantly. — Anna Godbersen

Good girls hold their heads high by daylight,
Their grace and their virtue soaring with kites,
While bad girls slink along in their shame-
Everyone stares at them, everyone blames.
But those bad girls sleep soundly at night,
Ne'er do their consciences wake them in a fright,
While our good girls toss and they turn-
They lay awake for those who will burn. — Anna Godbersen

A man is made in the rough-and-tumble of the world a lady emerges from the flossy back rooms of her own imagination. — Anna Godbersen

It's the craziest thing, but I can't stop thinking about you. — Anna Godbersen

Henry closed his eyes and imagined the sweet petulant woundedness with which she had stared at him on the beach. He felt a little proud that she could love him. — Anna Godbersen

Girls," their mother interjected, "you must both stop being strange - it is unattractive. And don't forget your hats. It would be absolutely the end for me if you two came down with freckles at a time like this. — Anna Godbersen

The first stab of love is like a sunset, a blaze of color
oranges, pearly pinks, vibrant purples ... — Anna Godbersen

It was disgraceful but also romantic enough to make Lina's heart turn. — Anna Godbersen

Henry turned his hat in his hands but went on looking at Diana in a way that made her want to crawl into his arms and stay there forever. — Anna Godbersen

From far away, on a clear day, she saw how all those mighty mansions were only temporary delusions, and how fashion would march on, and the chateaus and palazzos of American merchants would fall to the wrecking ball so that department stores might rise above. — Anna Godbersen

It had been an awful thing to lose Henry the first time, to matrimony, but to discover what a false front he was capable of was another kind of blow, and it had left her almost speechless. Then there was the fury with herself - for she had known what Henry's love was, and still she had gone back to suffer a little more at his hands. — Anna Godbersen

There was plenty of life left and if he had to he would use it all to get her back. The time had passed for making promises to her-all that was left for him was to act. — Anna Godbersen

In New York there is always something to look at, but it is all infinitely more interesting through a window in the backseat of a limousine. — Anna Godbersen

She now saw that she wanted a boy to do more than follow her in blind devotion. She wanted a boy to challenge her, to tell her about things she'd never thought of, to show her new points of view. — Anna Godbersen

Elizabeth had followed her heart, and no one ever regrets that. — Anna Godbersen

But there was nothing like a little chest-beating to remind a man where his true feelings lay. — Anna Godbersen

Sometimes ends are in fact beginnings; beginnings ends. — Anna Godbersen

They were all dressed in their finest as though life really were some magical stage play in which every moment ought to be illuminated with its own bright spotlight. — Anna Godbersen

It is often advantageous to forget. Forget your wincing humiliations, forget life's blows, and get on. For blocks in every direction, down every street in the city, people not yet old enough to have lines on their foreheads were laughing away memory, warmly ensconced in shrines of forgetfulness. Those who followed the word of God and those who preferred what the priests called "hoodoo" alike. People everywhere forgetting with drink or forgetting with religion or forgetting with the numbing quality of their many heaps of things. They looked forward and imagined rosy tomorrows, and gave up whatever horrors heckled their dreams, and listened to the pretty stories of whomever ruled their pulpit. — Anna Godbersen

Though her emotions had not deviated from a jittery frailty she knew that in her own room she could at least attempt sleep and that if she dreamed she might then finally be with Henry. — Anna Godbersen

It had been too much for Edith to take and she had gone to her room so that her nieces wouldn't see her cry anymore. — Anna Godbersen

You don't need to marry a man with millions. You only need to be your exquisite self. — Anna Godbersen

Her heart the damned thing had begun to race and she only hoped that the rapid inflation and deflation of her chest wasn't visible beneath her fitted bodice. — Anna Godbersen

She wanted to walk slowly and smell the wafting perfumes of bouquets that men had bought for their sweethearts and watch couples holding each other tight as they dashed along the pavement on their way to or from something that made them grateful to be in each other's company. Going home felt the same as going to sleep, and she was too bouncing, too overcome with bliss for that. — Anna Godbersen

Ah well that I can't tell you." Diana ducked her head so that the brim of her bonnet covered her face. "Some things must remain a mystery and for now I think I'll keep my opinion of you and your compliments to myself. — Anna Godbersen

It is easy to forget now, how effervescent and free we all felt that summer. — Anna Godbersen

What was it about that short creature with her wild hair and spurious air of purity and why would anyone much less two men love her and to such disastrous ends. — Anna Godbersen

It was like the color of his eyes, she supposed - not quite one shade or another, and utterly unlike anyone else's. — Anna Godbersen

I can't imagine what my life was before. I can't imagine ever being without you for very long again. — Anna Godbersen

We see our sins reflected everywhere: in the pallor of our intimates' faces, in the scratching of tree branches against windows, in the strange movements of everyday objects. These may be messages from God or tricks of the eye, but in neither case are we permitted to ignore them. — Anna Godbersen

I tell you Schoonmaker she doesn't know what she has. That's the heart of it. She's like some wild creature who hasn't a clue the worth of its coat. — Anna Godbersen

You love her," Teddy observed quietly. Henry replied with an uncharacteristic lack of irony: "Yes."
Teddy's eyes shifted to the plaster interlacing that decorated the ceiling in curlicues. "Lord, you never make it easy, do you."
"No. — Anna Godbersen

He turned his dark eyes on the girl whom he had dreamed of so often over the previous months. Beside him, at that very moment of existence, at the heart of torrential downpour, she was exquisitely real, and she, too, seemed content to go on sitting there forever. — Anna Godbersen

Henry's worldly goal at the moment was drinking enough beer to be happy and forgetful. — Anna Godbersen

She saw now that he was like an illusionist who captivated women with a little sleight of hand and once she had seen the mechanism it had lost all power for her. — Anna Godbersen

Henry was thinking of the younger Holland sister of the way she could go from being an impetuous girl to a knowing woman in a few seconds and never lose the stars in her eyes. — Anna Godbersen

All really interesting girls invent themselves. — Anna Godbersen

She was a vision in a white gown her dark hair forming a hazy halo around her rosy heart-shaped face. Her long lashes fluttered to touch her cheeks and then her eyes opened fully in his direction. Her small round mouth flexed in an immediate and knowing smile. That's the girl I'm going to marry Henry thought. — Anna Godbersen

She was full of some strange energy that morning. Her every movement had purpose and life and she seemed to find satisfaction in every little thing. — Anna Godbersen

Elizabeth who was only partially visible to her stared out the window very much awake as though she were contemplating the end of man. — Anna Godbersen

She should have know that villains often come with pretty faces. — Anna Godbersen

Our era has produced many great men
robber barons, masters of innovation, beast of business
whose staggering wealth, incomparable ruthlessness and personal legends would seem to prove they are dominant species but then one has a look at their son, and doubts the theory of evolution entirely.
-DR. Bertrand Legmam Cooper,
Problems of Science and Society,
Posted by One Who Has Known Both, 1900 — Anna Godbersen

We have glimpsed in it the future of high society: wealth without class. — Anna Godbersen

Slowly the sky turned from the color of cornflower to that of hyacinth, and the Ferris wheel at Coney Island appeared like a ring of diamonds against the twilight. New York-that city made of canyons between tall buildings, and ornate houses filled with glittering things that might trap a girl forever-was nothing more than a few dots on an infinite landscape. The atmosphere was crystalline and afforded her a perfect view. Only from this place was she able to see how limited the city was, after everything, and how wide open the world could all of a sudden become. — Anna Godbersen

A young woman, newly wed, may find herself in the delightful position of wanting to do nothing without the company of her darling husband. She may indeed discover that she spends all her waking hours with her fellow to the exclusion of every other friend or family member. This is understandable, but wholly unacceptable, to society. — Anna Godbersen

...she considered herself unconventional... — Anna Godbersen

He was just like summer, and she loved summer. If she had any wish, it would be to live a lifetime of summers. — Anna Godbersen

A lady must retain always her composure. Even in a rainstorm, she must appear joyous and dry. When she loses her composure, then the respect of her peers and her staff will follow in short order. — Anna Godbersen

She was like a heroine in a novel that she herself was writing the character kept protesting that she was too strong for love and yet the narrator went on describing her desire. — Anna Godbersen

Maybe Leland would appear there by chance in the morning his chin freshly shaved against his stiff new collar and upon seeing his love in such duress would spring into action. Maybe he would even carry her out like a princess in a bedtime story. — Anna Godbersen

Good night.' Diana summoned all the dignity that she could manage in her bedraggled state and began to move back up the beach. Her dress was soaked and her stockings dotted with sand and her heart couldn't possibly withstand any more. — Anna Godbersen

Girls took to dressing like boys, and though women had obtained the vote, we had swiftly moved on to pursuing flashier freedoms: necking in cars and smoking cigarettes and walking down city streets in flesh colored stockings. — Anna Godbersen

She will be busy writing novels. As soon as she had has gotten far enough away from this frighteningly puritanical country, her mind will be set free, and she will be able to turn all of her observations in richly drawn characters and intricately themed stories."
"But what will she eat, dear Grass?" Barnard leaned against the wall, his arms crossing his chest skeptically.
"Baguette and red wine, pure art, filthy air. Look at her, she is made of rose petals, and the world will take good care of her. And if it does not, we will have our hearts moved by such an exquisitely gorgeous tragedy. — Anna Godbersen

Property has ever been a fluid concept
just ask the wife of the Wall Street speculator who writes her party invitations on Marie Antoinette's escritoire. — Anna Godbersen

THE LUXE IS ...
Pretty girls in pretty dresses, partying until dawn.
Irresistible boys with mischievous smiles and dangerous intentions.
White lies, dark secrets, and scandalous hookups.
This is Manhattan in 1899. — Anna Godbersen

Always stay sharp on railways and cruise ships for transit has a way of making everything clear. — Anna Godbersen

She had believed him to be hers, time and again, but still she could not stay the feeling that he might at any moment slip through her fingers. — Anna Godbersen

Diana knew it wouldn't be right, but then she told herself that things only looked wrong when there was someone to see you. — Anna Godbersen

Don't go looking for boys in the dark
They will say pretty things then
leave you with scars.
Do go looking for boys in the park
For that is where the true gentlemen are. — Anna Godbersen

I am a good leader; I know how to explain men to themselves. — Anna Godbersen

Living too much in one's head can be dangerous. — Anna Godbersen

I hear that among the younger generation couples sometimes maintain one large bedroom for husband and wife. I suppose that this is the hallmark of an intelligent use of space, and after all, the species must be propagated. Still, I prefer the older people's way of doing things: two well-appointed bedrooms, one each for husband and wife, an arrangement that prevents the revelation of so many irksome facts ...
-Van Kamp's Guide To Housekeeping For Ladies Of High Society,
1899 Edition — Anna Godbersen

Gossip is just a tool to distract people who have nothing better to do from feeling jealous of those few of us still remaining with noble hearts. — Anna Godbersen

The world is such a marvel-it gave you trials, but if you were still and concentrated, if you tried to do the right thing, it always provided you with salvation. — Anna Godbersen

How she wished she had Elizabeth to herself for a little so they could discuss what Henry's real intentions were and also how high and mighty Penelope had acted at lunch and what a tremendous insult it was that she'd come at all and did anyone really think she was beautiful with those oversize features anyway. — Anna Godbersen

Among her other talents were forgetting what she did not like and ignoring what she preferred not to see. — Anna Godbersen

A smiling friend was a true friend. — Anna Godbersen

They were a society whose chief vocations were to entertain and be entertained ... — Anna Godbersen

A young lady's most natural ally is her sister although sometimes our own relatives are as inscrutable to us as an antipodean. — Anna Godbersen

Teddy risked a look backward and nodded as he handed Henry his hat. The two men shook hands and then walked past each other Teddy moving in the direction of Henry's room and Henry the hat pulled down over his face toward the Cutting carriage that was waiting by the curb. — Anna Godbersen

I've always believed in savoring the moments. In the end, they are the only things we'll have. — Anna Godbersen

It is a fact of big cities that one girl's darkest how is always another's moment of shining triumph, and New York is the biggest and cruelest city of them all. — Anna Godbersen

I love you.
He said it simply, quietly. He didn't say those words as she had imagined them said so many times by characters in novels. He didn't say them with desperation, with pleading, with futile rage or florid persuasion. He spoke without lasciviousness; he spoke only with the intention of being understood. — Anna Godbersen

It is well known that a man, when wooing a lady to be his wife, must first win over the females she most confides in - her friends, of course, and her sister, if she has one. — Anna Godbersen

Her life, she realized, had all the charm of a steel trap. — Anna Godbersen

There was no pleasure like being envied on a mass scale. — Anna Godbersen

She found herself longing for home-not just for the hotel but for New York and all the real novels that she could lose herself in there. — Anna Godbersen

When girls use the brightness of their eyes or the softness of their skin, they have an uncommon advantage in getting what they want. — Anna Godbersen

She was realizing for the first time in her life what agony it was to experience such unquiet beneath an impeccable veneer. — Anna Godbersen

And in that part of the world the darkness could go on and on forever, as though there would never be light again. She hadn't ever been able to tolerate that very well. — Anna Godbersen

Even when a girl is married she still never completely leaves her mother and father's home. — Anna Godbersen

That is what I want to tell you about: the girls with their short skirts and bright eyes and big-city dreams.
The girls of 1929. — Anna Godbersen

Well, if you weren't flirting with him"-his voice had now grown a little plaintive-"who was he, and what did you want with him anyway?"
"If you are so determined to bore me, I may just have to go home." Astrid sighed carelessly, "What a shame, when I am wearing such a pretty dress. — Anna Godbersen

They will stop calling brides beautiful after today - you have simply set the standard too high,' he said. — Anna Godbersen

She felt so much aware of her own beauty it seemed inconceivable that everybody else wouldn't notice the difference too. — Anna Godbersen

The value of secrets is ever fluctuating although ladies who have been in society for a long time learn that a secret kept can be worth more than a secret told. — Anna Godbersen

She was trying to sound tough and impatient, but she knew that vulnerable desire to be wooed was still brimming in her tone. — Anna Godbersen

Recurrent memories of Henry Schoonmaker were the most exciting thing to happen in her conscious mind these days. — Anna Godbersen

That was how the heroine of a book would play it and Diana was still writing her own story the best heroines she'd always believed took their fate into their own hands. — Anna Godbersen

So this was betrayal. It was like being left alone in the desert at dusk without water or warmth. It left your mouth dry and will broken. It sapped your tears and made you hollow. — Anna Godbersen

That was the way love was, she guessed-it left you always unsteady on your feet. — Anna Godbersen

As she always did on any really important day, Penelope Hayes wore red. — Anna Godbersen