“To get into the best society, nowadays, one has either to feed people, amuse people, or shock people - that is all!”

“Used to all kinds of society, she watched people as one reads the pages of a novel, with a certain disinterested amusement.”

“People are afraid of themselves, nowadays. They have forgotten the highest of all duties, the duty that one owes to one's self. Of course, they are charitable. They feed the hungry and clothe the beggar. But their own souls starve, and are naked. Courage has gone out of our race. Perhaps we never really had it. The terror of society, which is the basis of morals, the terror of God, which is the secret of religion—these are the two things that govern us. And yet—”

“The people we consider successful in our society are all people that seize every moment and make the best of each situation.”

“The plain working truth is that it is not only good for people to be shocked occasionally, but absolutely necessary to the progress of society that they should be shocked pretty often.”

“It's a sad reflection on society how many people are shocked by honesty... and how few by dishonesty.”