--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Is New York such a labyrinth? I thought…" description: "\"“Is New York such a labyrinth? I thought it so straight up and down—like Fifth Avenue. And with all the cross streets numbered!” She seemed to guess hi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b45/edith-wharton-512_fifth-avenue_is-new-york-such-a-labyrinth-i-thought-i_1220015.jpg" --- # Is New York such a labyrinth? I thought it so straight up… ![“Is New York such a labyrinth? I thought it so straight up and down—like Fifth Avenue. And with all the cross streets numbered!” She seemed to guess his faint disapproval of this, and added, with the rare smile that enchanted her whole face: “If you knew how I like it for just that—the…” quote by Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b45/edith-wharton-512_fifth-avenue_is-new-york-such-a-labyrinth-i-thought-i_1220015.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b45/edith-wharton-512_fifth-avenue_is-new-york-such-a-labyrinth-i-thought-i_1220015.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b45/edith-wharton-512_fifth-avenue_is-new-york-such-a-labyrinth-i-thought-i_1220015.jpg) > ““Is New York such a labyrinth? I thought it so straight up and down—like Fifth Avenue. And with all the cross streets numbered!” She seemed to guess his faint disapproval of this, and added, with the rare smile that enchanted her whole face: “If you knew how I like it for just that—the straight-up-and-downness, and the big honest labels on everything!” He saw his chance. “Everything may be labelled—but everybody is not.”” [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker contrasts Manhattan’s orderly grid with the desire for deeper, unseen meanings beyond surface labels. **In simple terms:** People crave hidden depth beyond obvious order. Key Takeaway Look beyond obvious labels. Themes order perception identity labels depth Mood curious reflective Type literary observational When to use this quote - city navigation - personal relationships - interpretation of social norms Key Concepts urban design symbolism human nature Questions to Reflect On - What do you assume about people based on outward appearances? - How can you discover deeper truths beyond surface order? A Different Perspective Labels can oversimplify complex realities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fifth avenue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fifth-avenue/) [Labyrinth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labyrinth/) ## Related quotes > [“—Sooner or later the mind grasps at a thought and follows it into the labyrinth, one thought branching into another. 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Flynn > [And being gay isn't so easy, either I've always said that if anyone ever thought I was straight they must need glasses - but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boy-george/and-being-gay-isn-t-so-easy-either-i-ve-always-said-that-if-anyone/) [Boy George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boy-george/) > [“I still thought that to get something you had to go straight for your goal whereas it is only distractions, uncertainty, distance that bring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fleur-jaeggy/i-still-thought-that-to-get-something-you-had-to-go-straight-for-your/) Fleur Jaeggy > [I love New York. 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I did go from wanting to be someone, now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rufus-wainwright/all-these-poses-of-classical-torture-ruined-my-mind-like-a-snake-in/) [Rufus Wainwright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rufus-wainwright/) > [I have never walked down Fifth Avenue alone without thinking of money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-trollope/i-have-never-walked-down-fifth-avenue-alone-without-thinking-of-money/) [Anthony Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-trollope/) > [I hate to do what everybody else is doing. Why, only last week, on Fifth Avenue and some cross streets, I noticed that every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-wells/i-hate-to-do-what-everybody-else-is-doing-why-only-last-week-on-fifth/) [Carolyn Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-wells/) > [Everything about my journey to get Spanx off the ground entailed me having to be a salesperson - from going to the hosiery mills…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-blakely/everything-about-my-journey-to-get-spanx-off-the-ground-entailed-me/) [Sara Blakely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-blakely/) > [Donald Trump is not stupid. He knows exactly what he's saying. And he's just saying out there - I mean, forget about Muslims. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bassem-youssef/donald-trump-is-not-stupid-he-knows-exactly-what-he-s-saying-and-he-s/) [Bassem Youssef](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bassem-youssef/) > [There are certainly numberless women of fashion who consider it perfectly natural to go miles down Fifth Avenue, or Madison Avenue, yet for whom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-romains/there-are-certainly-numberless-women-of-fashion-who-consider-it/) [Jules Romains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-romains/) > [She's quite skinny, like me, but nice skinny. Roller-skate skinny. I watched her once from the window when she was crossing over Fifth Avenue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/she-s-quite-skinny-like-me-but-nice-skinny-roller-skate-skinny-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I feel when you walk into somebody's apartment on Fifth Avenue or house in Malibu and you see a Basquiat, a Warhol, a Richard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-pigozzi/i-feel-when-you-walk-into-somebody-s-apartment-on-fifth-avenue-or/) [Jean Pigozzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-pigozzi/) ## More by Edith Wharton > [“Suddenly the air was full of that deep clangor of bells which periodically covers Rome with a roof of silver.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/suddenly-the-air-was-full-of-that-deep-clangor-of-bells-which/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“Untrained human nature was not frank and innocent; it was full of the twists and defences of an instinctive guile. And he felt himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/untrained-human-nature-was-not-frank-and-innocent-it-was-full-of-the/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“High Pasture Come up--come up: in the dim vale below The autumn mist muffles the fading trees, But on this keen hill-pasture, though the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/high-pasture-come-up-come-up-in-the-dim-vale-below-the-autumn-mist/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“Two ways to be a light for all, is to be a flaming candle or the mirror that reflects it”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/two-ways-to-be-a-light-for-all-is-to-be-a-flaming-candle-or-the/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“... no treasure-house of Atreus was ever as rich as a well-stored memory.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/no-treasure-house-of-atreus-was-ever-as-rich-as-a-well-stored-memory/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“...the endless labour of rolling human stupidity up the steep hill of understanding.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/the-endless-labour-of-rolling-human-stupidity-up-the-steep-hill-of/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“he saw his marriage becoming what most of the other marriages about him were: a dull association of material and social interests held together…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/he-saw-his-marriage-becoming-what-most-of-the-other-marriages-about/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [The real loneliness is living among all these kind people who only ask one to pretend!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/the-real-loneliness-is-living-among-all-these-kind-people-who-only/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [With a shiver of foreboding he saw his marriage becoming what most of the other marriages about him were: a dull association of material…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/with-a-shiver-of-foreboding-he-saw-his-marriage-becoming-what-most-of/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [Life is the saddest thing there is, next to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/life-is-the-saddest-thing-there-is-next-to-death/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [A classic is classic not because it conforms to certain structural rules, or fits certain definitions (of which its author had quite probably never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/a-classic-is-classic-not-because-it-conforms-to-certain-structural/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [There is too much sour grapes for my taste in the present American attitude. The time to denounce the bankers was when we were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/there-is-too-much-sour-grapes-for-my-taste-in-the-present-american/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“But in a few years more perhaps there may be; for, deep within us as the ghost instinct lurks, I seem to see it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/but-in-a-few-years-more-perhaps-there-may-be-for-deep-within-us-as/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [Dialogue in fiction should be reserved for the culminating moments and regarded as the spray into which the great wave of narrative breaks in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/dialogue-in-fiction-should-be-reserved-for-the-culminating-moments/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“These Americans, under their forthcoming manner, their surface-gush, as some might call it, have an odd reticence about what goes on underneath.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/these-americans-under-their-forthcoming-manner-their-surface-gush-as/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) [Explore all 504 Edith Wharton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) ## More Fifth avenue quotes > [I feel when you walk into somebody's apartment on Fifth Avenue or house in Malibu and you see a Basquiat, a Warhol, a Richard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-pigozzi/i-feel-when-you-walk-into-somebody-s-apartment-on-fifth-avenue-or/) [Jean Pigozzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-pigozzi/) > [She's quite skinny, like me, but nice skinny. Roller-skate skinny. I watched her once from the window when she was crossing over Fifth Avenue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/she-s-quite-skinny-like-me-but-nice-skinny-roller-skate-skinny-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There are certainly numberless women of fashion who consider it perfectly natural to go miles down Fifth Avenue, or Madison Avenue, yet for whom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-romains/there-are-certainly-numberless-women-of-fashion-who-consider-it/) [Jules Romains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-romains/) > [Donald Trump is not stupid. He knows exactly what he's saying. And he's just saying out there - I mean, forget about Muslims. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bassem-youssef/donald-trump-is-not-stupid-he-knows-exactly-what-he-s-saying-and-he-s/) [Bassem Youssef](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bassem-youssef/) > [Everything about my journey to get Spanx off the ground entailed me having to be a salesperson - from going to the hosiery mills…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-blakely/everything-about-my-journey-to-get-spanx-off-the-ground-entailed-me/) [Sara Blakely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-blakely/) > [I hate to do what everybody else is doing. Why, only last week, on Fifth Avenue and some cross streets, I noticed that every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-wells/i-hate-to-do-what-everybody-else-is-doing-why-only-last-week-on-fifth/) [Carolyn Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-wells/) > [I have never walked down Fifth Avenue alone without thinking of money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-trollope/i-have-never-walked-down-fifth-avenue-alone-without-thinking-of-money/) [Anthony Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-trollope/) > [All these poses of classical torture ruined my mind like a snake in the orchard. I did go from wanting to be someone, now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rufus-wainwright/all-these-poses-of-classical-torture-ruined-my-mind-like-a-snake-in/) [Rufus Wainwright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rufus-wainwright/) > [I like going to New York because I don't get recognised there - although, the first time I was there, I'd only been in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theo-walcott/i-like-going-to-new-york-because-i-don-t-get-recognised-there/) [Theo Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theo-walcott/) > [“I liked to walk up Fifth Avenue and pick out romantic women from the crowd and imagine that in a few minutes I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/i-liked-to-walk-up-fifth-avenue-and-pick-out-romantic-women-from-the/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [I love New York. 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You can pop out of the Underworld in Central Park, hail a taxi, head down Fifth Avenue with a giant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/i-love-new-york-you-can-pop-out-of-the-underworld-in-central-park-2/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [“Among other wonders, the Fifth Avenue offered private bathrooms, an unprecedented extravagance, as well as the city’s second passenger elevator (equipped with Otis’s safety…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-wallace/among-other-wonders-the-fifth-avenue-offered-private-bathrooms-an/) [Mike Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-wallace/) > [“In those years I did not care to enjoy sex, only to have it. 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