Every pretty girl is not such a fool as you, to suppose that when a gentleman admires her beauty and pays her a little attention, he must mean something particular.
 George Eliot, Adam Bede (1859). copy citation

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Author George Eliot
Source Adam Bede
Topic beauty attention
Date 1859
Language English
Reference
Note
Weblink http://www.gutenberg.org/files/507/507-h/507-h.htm

Context

“And I say it again, you're acting the part of a selfish light-minded scoundrel though it cuts me to th' heart to say so, and I'd rather ha' lost my right hand.” “Let me tell you, Adam,” said Arthur, bridling his growing anger and trying to recur to his careless tone, “you're not only devilishly impertinent, but you're talking nonsense. Every pretty girl is not such a fool as you, to suppose that when a gentleman admires her beauty and pays her a little attention, he must mean something particular. Every man likes to flirt with a pretty girl, and every pretty girl likes to be flirted with. The wider the distance between them, the less harm there is, for then she's not likely to deceive herself.”” source