Scarlett Quotes

“But if you knew that, why on earth did you marry her?" Rosemary asked.

"Why?" Rhett's mouth twisted in a smile.
"Because she was so full of fire and so recklessly, stubbornly brave.Because she was such a child beneath all her pretenses.Because she was unlike any woman I had ever known. She fascinated
me,infuriated me, drove me mad. I loved her as consumingly as she loved him. From the day I first laid eyes on her. It was a kind of disease."
There was a weight of sorrow in his voice. He bowed his head into his two hands and laughed shakily. His voice was muffled and blurred by his fingers. "What a grotesque practical joke life is. Now Ashley Wilkes is a free man and would marry Scarlett on a moment's notice, and I want to be rid of her. Naturally that makes her determined to have me. She wants only what she cannot have."
Rhett raised his head. "I'm afraid," he said quietly, "afraid that it will all begin again. I know that she's heartless and completely selfish, that she's like a child who cries for a toy and then breaks it once she has it. But there are moments when she tilts her head at a certain angle, or she smiles that gleeful smile, or she suddenly looks lost-and I come close to forgetting what I know.”
― Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett

“You belong with me, Scarlett, haven't you figured that out? And the world is where we belong, all of it. We're not home-and-hearth people. We're the adventurers, the buccaneers, the blockade runners. Without challenge, we're only half alive. We can go anywhere, and as long as we're together, it will belong to us. But, my pet, we'll never belong to it. That's for other people, not for us.”
― Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett

“Should-haves solve nothing. It's the next thing to happen that needs thinking about.”
― Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett

“If only' repeated again and again in her head like a battering ram...'if only' could break your heart.”
― Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett

“But you know who you are when you're on your own out there in all that emptiness. There's no past, no holding on to the scraps that are all you've got left. Everything is that minute, or maybe tomorrow, not yesterday.”
― Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett

“I want to stay a while, wrapped in silence, the way the trees and rocks and the ground beneath my feet are wrapped in moss and ivy and soft, green lichen.”
― Cathy Cassidy, Scarlett

“It's the centuries, Scarlett darling. All the life lived there, all the joy and all the sorrow, all the feasts and battles, they're in the air around and the land beneath you. It's time, years beyond our counting weighing without weight on the earth. You cannot see it or smell it or hear it or touch it, but you feel it brushing your skin and speaking without sound. Time. And mystery.”
― Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett

“One of the injustices of the world was that it was so easy to make the innocent and caring ones happy with so little.”
― Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett

“Rhett glanced over his shoulder as if there had been a sound. His eyes met hers, and surprise stiffened his lithe body. For a long immeasurable moment the two of them looked at each other while the space between them widened. Then blandness smoothed Rhett's face as he touched two fingers to his hat brim in salute. Scarlett lifted her hand.”
― Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett

“And if things always stayed the same, Scarlett, what would be the reason for bothering to draw breath?”
― Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett

“Everyone knew that once a woman was 30, she might as well be dead.”
― Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett

“But listen well. In Tir na nOg, because there is no sorrow, there is no joy.
Do you hear the meaning of the seachain's song?”
― Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett

“How could a man know the truth of his own soul?”
― Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett

“Strong people didn’t like witnesses to their weak moments.”
― Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett

“I’m going to make a world for myself by my rules, not anybody else’s. Don’t worry about me. I’m going to learn to be happy.”
― Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett

“To anyone with a drop of Irish blood in them the land they live on is like their mother. It's the only thing that lasts, that's worth working for, for fighting for...”
― Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett

“My beloved,” she whispered, “my love.” Rhett bowed once again. The ship was moving away from the dock. He put his hat on and turned away. His thumb tilted the hat to the back of his head. Don’t go, cried Scarlett’s heart. Rhett glanced over his shoulder as if there had been a sound. His eyes met hers, and surprise stiffened his lithe body. For a long, immeasurable moment the two of them looked at each other while the space between them widened. Then blandness smoothed Rhett’s face as he touched two fingers to his hat brim in salute. Scarlett lifted her hand. He was still standing there on the dock when the ship turned into the channel to the sea. When Scarlett could see him no longer, she sank numbly into a deck chair.”
― Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett: The Sequel to Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind

“Why?” Rhett’s mouth twisted in a smile. “Because she was so full of fire and so recklessly, stubbornly brave. Because she was such a child beneath all her pretenses. Because she was unlike any woman I had ever known. She fascinated me, infuriated me, drove me mad. I loved her as consumingly as she loved him. From the day I first laid eyes on her. It was a kind of disease.”
― Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett: The Sequel to Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind

“You don’t have to do anything, you only have to be what you are.”
― Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett

“What a waste! What a horrible, senseless waste. When happiness was so wonderful, how could anyone cling to a love that made them unhappy?”
― Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett

“What was the use of love if all it did was ruin things?”
― Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett

“She’d done harder things in her life, she could do this. She had to.”
― Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett

“And she understood. She would have done the same. She understood, too, why she'd been wrong to offer Ballyhara as a substitute for land he'd farmed all his life. It made all his work meaningless, and the work of his sons, his brothers, his father, his father's father.”
― Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett

“Should-haves solve nothing. It's the next thing to happen that needs thinking about.”
― Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett

“Cat!” Rhett shook her. “Stop that. The cat’s not important. Where are the stables, Scarlett? We need horses.” “Oh, you fool,” said Scarlett. Her strained voice was heavy with loving pity. “You don’t know what you’re saying. Let me go. I’ve got to find Cat—Katie O’Hara, called Cat. She’s your daughter.” Rhett’s hands closed painfully on Scarlett’s arms. “What the devil are you talking about?” He looked down into her face, but he couldn’t make out her expression in the darkness. “Answer me, Scarlett,” he demanded, and he shook her. “Let go of me, damn you! There’s no time for explanations now. Cat must be here someplace, but it’s dark, and she’s all alone. Let go, Rhett, and ask your questions later. All that isn’t important now.” Scarlett tried to break free, but he was too strong. “It’s important to me.” His voice was rough with urgency. “All right, all right. It happened when we went sailing and the storm came. You remember. I found out I was pregnant in Savannah, but you hadn’t come for me, and I was angry, so I didn’t tell you right away. How was I to know you would be married to Anne before you could hear about the baby?” “Oh, dear God,” Rhett groaned, and he released Scarlett. “Where is she?” he said. “We’ve got to find her.” “We”
― Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett: The Sequel to Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind

“Rhett trapped her wrists in a circle of his fingers. “I love you, you abusive wench.” His expression hardened. “And I’ll kill that bastard Fenton if he tries to take you from me.”
― Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett: The Sequel to Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind

“He’s a really astonishing fellow, has friends everywhere. Did you know he was on safari with the Viceroy once? Some maharajah fellow was host. I must say I’m surprised he got so drunk. I don’t remember him even keeping up with me. He took me to my hotel last night, put me to bed and all that. Was in fine fettle, a strong arm to lean on. I was counting on him, actually, to get me through the day. But when I came downstairs this morning, the porter fellow told me Rhett had ordered coffee and a newspaper while he waited for me, then suddenly bolted without even paying. I went in the bar to wait for him—Scarlett, what is it? I can’t fathom you today. What are you crying for?”
― Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett: The Sequel to Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind

“Rhett was watching the race through field glasses. Even ten feet away she could smell the whiskey on him. He was rocking on his feet. Drunk? Not Rhett. He could always hold his liquor. Had Bart’s disaster upset him that much?”
― Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett: The Sequel to Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind

“Put me down and I’ll show you,” said Scarlett. Rhett lowered her to her feet. His big hands closed on her shoulders, and he pulled her to him impatiently, then kissed her, briefly, firmly, and let her go. “I’d hate to be shot without getting what I came for,” he said. She could hear the laughter in his voice. “Now, Scarlett, get us out of here.”
― Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett: The Sequel to Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind

“Don’t worry about me. I’m going to learn to be happy.”
― Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett: The Sequel to Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind