From a New York Times review by Alexandra Jacobs of the book by Julie Reed titled “Dispatches From the Gilded Age”:

Julia Reed, a journalist and ambassador of Southern hospitality who died of cancer at 59 in 2020, was a great generator of maxims, especially about the little things. A sampler, from her posthumous collection of career-spanning essays, “Dispatches From the Gilded Age”:

“Packing should be an act of the imagination.”

“Knees get a bad rap in general.”

“If the occasion demands it, have a toast ready, but for God’s sake make it funny — and short.”