Painterly pale glove beside a red rose on dark burgundy velvet.

Original artwork, not a still

Rhett Butler

With enough courage, you can do without a reputation.

— Gone with the Wind · 1939

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

Rhett suggests that boldness can substitute for social standing, arguing that someone willing to act fearlessly doesn't need everyone's good opinion to get by, prizing nerve and self-possession over the approval and respectability that polite society usually demands.

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