# Quote — Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence

> It was the old New York way of taking life "without effusion of blood": the way of people who dreaded scandal more than disease, who placed decency above courage, and who considered that nothing was more ill-bred than "scenes," except the behaviour of those who gave rise to them.

- Author: [Edith Wharton](https://www.leafyquotes.com/edith-wharton.md)
- Book: [The Age of Innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/edith-wharton/the-age-of-innocence.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edith_Wharton#The_Age_of_Innocence_(1920)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/edith-wharton/the-age-of-innocence/it-was-the

## More from this book

> In the rotation of crops there was a recognized season for wild oats; but they were not sown more than once.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/edith-wharton/the-age-of-innocence/in-the-rotation.md)

> The worst of doing one's duty was that it apparently unfitted one for doing anything else.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/edith-wharton/the-age-of-innocence/the-worst-of-doing.md)

> I can't love you unless I give you up.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/edith-wharton/the-age-of-innocence/i-cant-love.md)