--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To your generation, I must represent the…" description: "\"To your generation, I must represent the literary equivalent of tufted furniture and gas chandeliers.\" — Edith Wharton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38c/edith-wharton-512_chandeliers_to-your-generation-i-must-represent-the_2415868.png" --- # To your generation, I must represent the literary… ![“To your generation, I must represent the literary equivalent of tufted furniture and gas chandeliers.” quote by Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38c/edith-wharton-512_chandeliers_to-your-generation-i-must-represent-the_2415868.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38c/edith-wharton-512_chandeliers_to-your-generation-i-must-represent-the_2415868.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38c/edith-wharton-512_chandeliers_to-your-generation-i-must-represent-the_2415868.png) > “To your generation, I must represent the literary equivalent of tufted furniture and gas chandeliers.” [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. She likens her generation to outdated, gaudy décor, implying they are seen as lacking substance and elegance. **In simple terms:** Her peers are viewed as flashy but shallow. Key Takeaway Recognize and cultivate deeper value. Themes generational critique social commentary elitism Mood critical reflective Type analytical observational When to use this quote - literary circles - social gatherings - career networking - family expectations Key Concepts cultural decay aesthetic judgment Questions to Reflect On - How do you define substance beyond appearance? - Can style ever be a proxy for depth? A Different Perspective Not all members of a generation fit this stereotype. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Chandeliers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chandeliers/) [Furniture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/furniture/) [Gas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gas/) [Generation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generation/) [Generation Represent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generation-represent-3252189/) [Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generations/) [Literary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literary/) [Literary Equivalent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literary-equivalent-933204/) [Represent Literary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/represent-literary-6097593/) [Tufted Furniture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tufted-furniture-6097594/) ## Related quotes > [There can be no literary equivalent to truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-riding/there-can-be-no-literary-equivalent-to-truth/) [Laura Riding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-riding/) > [I see myself as the literary equivalent of a skilled lathe-operator, or a basket-weaver; a potter, maybe: I make mildly diverting objects that people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/i-see-myself-as-the-literary-equivalent-of-a-skilled-lathe-operator/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) > [I am the literary equivalent of a Big Mac and fries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/i-am-the-literary-equivalent-of-a-big-mac-and-fries/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [To each generation I represent something else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-uggams/to-each-generation-i-represent-something-else/) [Leslie Uggams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-uggams/) > [Nothing in the reporting of a nation's history could so mislead the younger generation as to represent great events in such a way that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-stresemann/nothing-in-the-reporting-of-a-nation-s-history-could-so-mislead-the/) [Gustav Stresemann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-stresemann/) > [“I describe Soldiers And Sisterhood as the literary equivalent of a chocolte biscuit - all the fun and and none of the calories.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-nicholson/i-describe-soldiers-and-sisterhood-as-the-literary-equivalent-of-a/) [Andrew Nicholson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-nicholson/) > [The short story is not as restrictive as the sonnet, but, of all the literary forms, it is possibly the most single-minded. ...at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-menand/the-short-story-is-not-as-restrictive-as-the-sonnet-but-of-all-the/) [Louis Menand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-menand/) > [If what you write is true, it will not be so because of what you are as a writer but because of what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-riding/if-what-you-write-is-true-it-will-not-be-so-because-of-what-you-are/) [Laura Riding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-riding/) > [“I am the literary equivalent of a Big Mac and Fries. ~ Stephen King - If King is this then I guess I'm a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sb-knight/i-am-the-literary-equivalent-of-a-big-mac-and-fries-stephen-king-if/) [SB Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sb-knight/) > [ \[Comics\] were viewed as the literary equivalent of bubblegum cards, meant to be poked into the spokes of a young mind where they would… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/comics-were-viewed-as-the-literary-equivalent-of-bubblegum-cards/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [“Writing without revising is the literary equivalent of waltzing gaily out of the house in your underwear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-fuller/writing-without-revising-is-the-literary-equivalent-of-waltzing-gaily/) [Patricia Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-fuller/) > [They are the literary equivalent of sequins on an evening dress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-kanfer/they-are-the-literary-equivalent-of-sequins-on-an-evening-dress/) [Stefan Kanfer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-kanfer/) > [She's singing to-night to bring the chandelier down!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-leroux/she-s-singing-to-night-to-bring-the-chandelier-down/) [Gaston Leroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-leroux/) > [I still love sparkles and grocery shopping and really old cats that are only nice to you half the time. I still love writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-swift/i-still-love-sparkles-and-grocery-shopping-and-really-old-cats-that/) [Taylor Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-swift/) > [The sense of impending disaster hung over the garden like a chandelier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antal-szerb/the-sense-of-impending-disaster-hung-over-the-garden-like-a-chandelier/) [Antal Szerb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antal-szerb/) ## 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 Chandeliers quotes > [She's singing to-night to bring the chandelier down!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-leroux/she-s-singing-to-night-to-bring-the-chandelier-down/) [Gaston Leroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-leroux/) > [I still love sparkles and grocery shopping and really old cats that are only nice to you half the time. I still love writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-swift/i-still-love-sparkles-and-grocery-shopping-and-really-old-cats-that/) [Taylor Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-swift/) > [The sense of impending disaster hung over the garden like a chandelier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antal-szerb/the-sense-of-impending-disaster-hung-over-the-garden-like-a-chandelier/) [Antal Szerb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antal-szerb/) > [He spent more time on the road to Damascus than a Syrian camel driver. And we thought nobody could fill John Kerry's flip-flops! ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-huckabee/he-spent-more-time-on-the-road-to-damascus-than-a-syrian-camel-driver/) [Mike Huckabee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-huckabee/) > [On the evenings when my parents held parties, the drawing-room mirrors multiplied to infinity the scintillations of a crystal chandelier. Mama would take her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/on-the-evenings-when-my-parents-held-parties-the-drawing-room-mirrors/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [I did once shatter a chandelier. I was singing with my college choir in Wales. I was the soloist and I hit the high…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-jenkins/i-did-once-shatter-a-chandelier-i-was-singing-with-my-college-choir/) [Katherine Jenkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-jenkins/) > [ There’s a writer for you,” he said. “Knows everything and at the same time he knows nothing.” \[narrator\]It was my first inkling that he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/there-s-a-writer-for-you-he-said-knows-everything-and-at-the-same/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [The other thing that troubled me: Dad was clutching his workbag. Usually when he does that, it means we're in danger. Like the time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/the-other-thing-that-troubled-me-dad-was-clutching-his-workbag/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [A lot of hotels have beautiful chandeliers because the asset owner is emotional about having chandeliers in the property. I always say that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritesh-agarwal/a-lot-of-hotels-have-beautiful-chandeliers-because-the-asset-owner-is/) [Ritesh Agarwal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritesh-agarwal/) > [“Ten neatly coiffed female attendants stand against the walls, ready and waiting. Wearing starched yellow blouses with pink crossover ties neatly folded under the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-powell/ten-neatly-coiffed-female-attendants-stand-against-the-walls-ready/) [Gretchen Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-powell/) > [When I am in the city I have the impression that I am in a living room with crystal chandeliers, rugs of velvet, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolina-maria-de-jesus/when-i-am-in-the-city-i-have-the-impression-that-i-am-in-a-living/) [Carolina Maria de Jesus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolina-maria-de-jesus/) > [“The room was two-tiered, its marble balconies filled with rams and water nymphs in fancy dress; a kaleidoscope of colours swayed in time to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-room-was-two-tiered-its-marble-balconies-filled-with-rams-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I might not be the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but I'm pretty good at getting most of the other bulbs to light up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-welch/i-might-not-be-the-brightest-bulb-in-the-chandelier-but-i-m-pretty/) [Jack Welch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-welch/) > [I've always been melancholic. At a party, everyone would be looking at the glittering chandeliers and I'd be looking at the waitress's cracked shoes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-keyes/i-ve-always-been-melancholic-at-a-party-everyone-would-be-looking-at/) [Marian Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-keyes/) > [I challenge you to a duel!” screamed the cat, sailing over their heads on the swinging chandelier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bulgakov/i-challenge-you-to-a-duel-screamed-the-cat-sailing-over-their-heads/) [Mikhail Bulgakov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bulgakov/) [Browse all 37 Chandeliers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chandeliers/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To your generation, I must represent the literary equivalent of tufted furniture and gas chandeliers.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edith Wharton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/to-your-generation-i-must-represent-the-literary-equivalent-of-tufted/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Chandeliers" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/to-your-generation-i-must-represent-the-literary-equivalent-of-tufted/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38c/edith-wharton-512_chandeliers_to-your-generation-i-must-represent-the_2415868.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38c/edith-wharton-512_chandeliers_to-your-generation-i-must-represent-the_2415868.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38c/edith-wharton-512_chandeliers_to-your-generation-i-must-represent-the_2415868.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To your generation, I must represent the literary equivalent of tufted furniture and gas chandeliers.” — Edith Wharton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Edith Wharton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "To your generation, I must represent...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/to-your-generation-i-must-represent-the-literary-equivalent-of-tufted/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/to-your-generation-i-must-represent-the-literary-equivalent-of-tufted/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```