Impropriety Quotes

“It is the effect of scarcity; one’s rules of propriety make one thirst for the improper.”
― Mohsin Hamid, The Reluctant Fundamentalist

“You know I'll never marry," he said.
Marks's voice came from the corner. She was perched on a small chair, a sunbeam glancing off her fair hair and causing dust motes to glitter around her. "Just as well, since no rational woman would have you."
Leo took up the challenge without hesitation. "A rational woman..." he mused aloud. "I don't believe I've ever met one of those."
"How would you know if you did?" she asked. "You wouldn't be interested in her character. You would be far too busy examining her... her..."
"Her what?" he prompted.
"Her dress measurements," she finally said, and he laughed at her prudishness.
"Is it really so impossible for you to name ordinary body parts, Marks? Breasts, hips, legs- why is it indecent to talk about the human anatomy in a straightforward manner?"
Her eyes narrowed. "Because it leads to improper thoughts."
Leo smirked at her. "Mine already are."
"Well, mine aren't," she said. "And I would prefer them to remain that way."
His brows lifted. "You don't have improper thoughts?"
"Hardly ever."
"But when you do, what are they?"
She gave him an indignant glance.
"Have I ever been involved in your improper thoughts?" Leo persisted, causing her face to flame.
"I told you I didn't have any," she protested.
"No, you said 'hardly ever.' Which means one or two are rattling around in there."
Amelia broke in. "Leo, stop tormenting her."
Leo barely heard her, his attention fixed on Catherine. "I wouldn't think badly of you at all if you did," he said. "In fact, I'd like you much better for it."
"No doubt you would," Catherine shot back. "You probably prefer women with no virtues at all."
"Virtue in a woman is like pepper in the soup. A little makes for a nice seasoning. But overdo it, and no one wants very much of you.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Married by Morning

“…there is a particular boldness in metaphor, which is not to be found in the same degree in any of the figures of rhetoric. Without any thing like an explicit comparison, and commonly without any warning or apology, the name of one thing is obtruded upon us, for the name of another quite different, though resembling in some quality. The consequence of this is, that as there is always in this trope an apparent at least, if it cannot be called a real impropriety, and some degree of obscurity, a new metaphor is rarely to be risked.”
― George Campbell, The Philosophy of Rhetoric