Quotes from Stephanie Clifford

The world always said to just be yourself, but it turned out when Evelyn was herself, no guys were at all interested, so she was left with games of make-believe, expressing enthusiasm for whatever the men wanted to do, be it rock climbing or going to a cheese-beer pairing or a Knicks game.

It required an enormous amount of energy and time just to do errands like getting groceries. She was always sweaty after she got groceries.

Last summer had meant lots of Sam Adams Summer Ale by herself on hot weekend days when it seemed like just her and the Dominican Day parade.

Who are you trying to impress? You're twisting yourself into knots trying to fit in with this crowd. It isn't worth it.

I just wanted to be open and honest, and being open and honest is a practice rather than a quality.

She had been waiting, she thought. Always waiting. In New York, waiting for her life to be replaced by some other, more interesting life on offer. Waiting for money that she felt ought to be hers to flood in and elevate her position, from some male source...

She summahs in Lake James, how mahvelous

I'm just saying that money is made in so many more interesting ways now.

I made my money and can spend it as I want, just as you can spend the money you make as you want.

Evelyn let Camilla, as the higher-status person, extend her had first, a Babsism she remembered.

She had tried. She had fought. And she had lost.

The scene I was in. It was just so much. I don't think you realize. The money it took. The competition over the invitations. The parties....It sounds ridiculous, saying it out loud, because it's just parties, but it mattered to me. Then. It was a place. It seemed solid. I couldn't keep up.

I know I asked, but I don't want to know. I do want to know, but I don't want to know. It doesn't matter. If it's not Tayeb whoever, it'll be something else, and I'd always be playing catch-up. I was always playing catch-up.

without any actual aristocracy in America, the best those who wanted to be upper class could do was create systems of exclusivity and codes of conduct.

Charlotte had enough money -- had always had enough money -- that she didn't have to worry about her behavior.

We all think we have our problems, but thank God we don't have husbands who don't support the Guggenheim.

They had been nice to her, that was the surprising thing. She though they'd be cutting and they were kind. Welcoming.

The macarons are coming!" Souse shouted, like an epicurean Paul Revere.

T]alking can lead to deeper connections. So my therapist said.

Evelyn was twenty-six, and for the first time in her life, she was seen. Recognized. It wasn't that heads were turning--she wouldn't ask that much--but just for a moment, one man would hold her gaze a little longer than he should. Or a woman's eyes would flick over her dress with jealousy. She could now be a missed connection on Craigslist, a fragment in a song lyric, the inspiration for a girl in a musical.

She tried to do what the Equinox yoga instructor said to do and thank each thought for coming then let it float away, but the thoughts were not floating away and she couldn't force them away, not even here, where she was supposed to be able to escape.

Companies were offering bribes to expand faster internationally, investors were scamming their clients, oil companies were funding warlords, manufacturers were skirting environmental regulations, all to make ever more money, yet no one from those groups were seemingly untouchable, protected by power and status and connections, and some were not.

She felt like she was breathing cotton.

She didn't know where she was, and there was nowhere for her to go, and for just one moment, sweat pouring down her face, she felt free.