"All you've done is to be different from other women and you've made a little success at it. As I've told you before, that is the one unforgivable sin in any society. Be different and be damned! Scarlett, the mere fact that you've made a success of your mill is an insult to every man who hasn't succeeded. Remember, a well-bred female's place is in the home and she should know nothing about this busy, brutal world."
Explanation:
pg. 678 Rhett trying to explain to Scarlett why the other women disapprove of her.
A lion doesn’t concern himself with the opinions of a sheep.
It never is. People are gonna tell you who you are your whole life. You just gotta punch back and say, «No, this is who I am». You want people to look at you differently? Make them. You want to change things? You're gonna have to go out there and change them yourself because there are no fairy godmothers in this world.
But still, you might be better served, and this is a crazy notion, if you could stop worrying so much about who does and doesn't notice you. Even for a second.
There's no right, there's no wrong, there's only popular opinion. You... you... you believe in germs, right?
— It really bothers you.
— What?
— What people say.
— Yes.
— About me? Why would it upset you?
Virtue is that quality of generosity which offers itself willingly for another's service, and, being this, it is held by society to be nearly worthless. Sell yourself cheaply and you shall be used lightly and trampled under foot. Hold yourself dearly, however unworthily, and you will be respected. Society, in the mass, lacks woefully in the matter of discrimination. Its one criterion is the opinion of others. Its one test that of self-preservation. Has he preserved his fortune? Has she preserved her purity? Only in rare instances and with rare individuals does there seem to be any guiding light from within.
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