Quotes from book
A Few Figs from Thistles


Edna St. Vincent Millay photo

“My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But, ah, my foes, and, oh, my friends —
It gives a lovely light.”

Misattributed
Source: Edna St. Vincent Millay, in "First Fig" from A Few Figs from Thistles (1920); said to be a motto Roald Dahl lived by.

Edna St. Vincent Millay photo
Edna St. Vincent Millay photo

“"One thing there's no getting by—
I've been a wicked girl." said I;
"But if I can't be sorry, why,
I might as well be glad!"”

From "The Penitent", A Few Figs from Thistles (1922) <!-- Not sure whether this appears in the 1920 edition. -->

Edna St. Vincent Millay photo

“So wanton, light and false, my love, are you,
I am most faithless when I most am true.”

From Sonnet III: "Oh, Think not I am faithful to a vow!", A Few Figs from Thistles (1922) <!-- Not sure whether this appears in the 1920 edition. -->
Context: But you are mobile as the veering air,
And all your charms more changeful than the tide,
Wherefore to be inconstant is no care:
I have but to continue at your side.
So wanton, light and false, my love, are you,
I am most faithless when I most am true.

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