200+ Quotes & Sayings By Jane Austen

Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775, and died at age 41 on January 18, 1817. She is best known for her six published novels that include Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. She was a talented writer who also maintained a close correspondence with many of the people who were part of her life. She had a strong influence on English literature and had a significant impact on subsequent works. Her writing style is simple and direct, reflecting the values of her time period Read more

The majority of her work centers around the themes of morality, family dynamics as well as education as it relates to womanhood. In her letters she often discusses how to manage her finances as well as takes some criticism from those she writes to about some of the things she writes. Jane Austen lived in Britain during some of the most turbulent times during the early 1800s. During this time period, women were not given many opportunities to attend college or pursue a career in a field other than being a wife or mother.

Jane Austen's writing reflects these societal issues through her use of character development and dialogue. She created characters that are realistic in their mannerisms and interactions with others. This is evident in many aspects of her works including Pride and Prejudice where she depicts Elizabeth Bennet as an intelligent young woman with plenty of wit but also displays the difficulties that women face when trying to become educated in society during this time period.

There is nothing I would not do for those who...
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There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature. Jane Austen
A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration...
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A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment. Jane Austen
In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My...
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In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you. Jane Austen
The more I know of the world, the more I...
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The more I know of the world, the more I am convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love. I require so much! Jane Austen
I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or...
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I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun. Jane Austen
If I could but know his heart, everything would become...
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If I could but know his heart, everything would become easy. Jane Austen
There could have been no two hearts so open, no...
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There could have been no two hearts so open, no tastes so similar, no feelings so in unison Jane Austen
Oh, Lizzy! do anything rather than marry without affection.
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Oh, Lizzy! do anything rather than marry without affection. Jane Austen
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I do not think I ever opened a book in my life which had not something to say upon woman's inconstancy. Songs and proverbs, all talk of woman's fickleness. But perhaps you will say, these were all written by men."" Perhaps I shall. Yes, yes, if you please, no reference to examples in books. Men have had every advantage of us in telling their own story. Education has been theirs in so much higher a degree; the pen has been in their hands. I will not allow books to prove anything. . Jane Austen
She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me,...
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She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me, and I am in no humor at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men. Jane Austen
There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart.
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There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart. Jane Austen
Had I been in love, I could not have been...
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Had I been in love, I could not have been more wretchedly blind. But vanity, not love, has been my folly. Jane Austen
I come here with no expectations, only to profess, now...
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I come here with no expectations, only to profess, now that I am at liberty to do so, that my heart is and always will be...yours. Jane Austen
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They were within twenty yards of each other, and so abrupt was his appearance, that it was impossible to avoid his sight. Their eyes instantly met, and the cheeks of each were overspread with the deepest blush. He absolutely started, and for a moment seemed immoveable from surprise; but shortly recovering himself, advanced towards the party, and spoke to Elizabeth, if not in terms of perfect composure, at least of perfect civility. Jane Austen
No man is offended by another man's admiration of the...
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No man is offended by another man's admiration of the woman he loves it is the woman only who can make it a torment. Jane Austen
To wish was to hope, and to hope was to...
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To wish was to hope, and to hope was to expect Jane Austen
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You are mistaken, Mr. Darcy, if you suppose that the mode of your declaration affected me in any other way, than as it spared the concern which I might have felt in refusing you, had you behaved in a more gentlemanlike manner." (Elizabeth Bennett) Jane Austen
Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that...
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Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. Jane Austen
Elizabeth's spirit's soon rising to playfulness again, she wanted Mr....
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Elizabeth's spirit's soon rising to playfulness again, she wanted Mr. Darcy to account for his having ever fallen in love with her. 'How could you begin?' said she. begun. Jane Austen
Is not general incivility the very essence of love?
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Is not general incivility the very essence of love? Jane Austen
One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of...
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One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other. Jane Austen
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How quick come the reasons for approving what we like. Jane Austen
Without music, life would be a blank to me.
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Without music, life would be a blank to me. Jane Austen
...when pain is over, the remembrance of it often becomes...
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...when pain is over, the remembrance of it often becomes a pleasure. Jane Austen
Do not give way to useless alarm; though it is...
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Do not give way to useless alarm; though it is right to be prepared for the worst, there is no occasion to look on it as certain. Jane Austen
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Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. If the dispositions of the parties are ever so well known to each other or ever so similar beforehand, it does not advance their felicity in the least. They always continue to grow sufficiently unlike afterwards to have their share of vexation; and it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life. Jane Austen
And to all this she must yet add something more...
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And to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading. Jane Austen
The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not...
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The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid. Jane Austen
I do not want people to be very agreeable, as...
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I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal. Jane Austen
Life seems but a quick succession of busy nothings.
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Life seems but a quick succession of busy nothings. Jane Austen
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Stupid men are the only ones worth knowing after all. Jane Austen
I cannot speak well enough to be unintelligible.
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I cannot speak well enough to be unintelligible. Jane Austen
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It is happy for you that you possess the talent of flattering with delicacy. May I ask whether these pleasing attentions proceed from the impulse of the moment, or are they the result of previous study? Jane Austen
Yes, vanity is a weakness indeed. But pride - where...
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Yes, vanity is a weakness indeed. But pride - where there is a real superiority of mind, pride will be always under good regulation. Jane Austen
And pictures of perfection, as you know, make me sick...
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And pictures of perfection, as you know, make me sick and wicked. Jane Austen
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My good qualities are under your protection, and you are to exaggerate them as much as possible; and, in return, it belongs to me to find occasion for teasing and quarreling with you as often as may be... Jane Austen
There is one thing, Emma, which a man can always...
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There is one thing, Emma, which a man can always do if he chooses, and that is his duty; not by manoeuvring and finessing, but by vigour and resolution. - Mr. Knightley Jane Austen
Seldom, very seldom, does complete truth belong to any human...
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Seldom, very seldom, does complete truth belong to any human disclosure; seldom can it happen that something is not a little disguised or a little mistaken. Jane Austen
Every impulse of feeling should be guided by reason; and,...
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Every impulse of feeling should be guided by reason; and, in my opinion, exertion should always be in proportion to what is required. Jane Austen
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It has sunk him, I cannot say how much it has sunk him in my opinion. So unlike what a man should be! - None of that upright integrity, that strict adherence to truth and principle, that distain of trick and littleness, which a man should display in every transaction of his life. Jane Austen
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But to live in ignorance on such a point was impossible. Jane Austen
My Emma, does not every thing serve to prove more...
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My Emma, does not every thing serve to prove more and more the beauty of truth and sincerity in all our dealings with each other? Jane Austen
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It does not come to me in quite so direct a line as that; it takes a bend or two, but nothing of consequence. The stream is as good as at first; the little rubbish it collects in the turnings is easily moved away. Jane Austen
Words were insufficient for the elevation of his [Mr Collins']...
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Words were insufficient for the elevation of his [Mr Collins'] feelings; and he was obliged to walk about the room, while Elizabeth tried to unite civility and truth in a few short sentences. Jane Austen
Angry people are not always wise.
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Angry people are not always wise. Jane Austen
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…one half of her should not be always so much wiser than the other half… Jane Austen
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Biti dobro upućen u stvari znači lišiti druge mogućnosti da udovolje svojoj taštini, što će pametan čovek uvek nastojati da izbegne. Jane Austen
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Till I have your disposition, your goodness, I never can have your happiness.”~ Jane Austen (Pride & Prejudice) Jane Austen
I must learn to be content with being happier than...
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I must learn to be content with being happier than I deserve. Jane Austen
I am the happiest creature in the world. Perhaps other...
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I am the happiest creature in the world. Perhaps other people have said so before, but not one with such justice. I am happier even than Jane; she only smiles, I laugh. Jane Austen
You must be the best judge of your own happiness.
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You must be the best judge of your own happiness. Jane Austen
A large income is the best recipe for happiness I...
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A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of. Jane Austen
Why not seize the pleasure at once? -- How often...
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Why not seize the pleasure at once? -- How often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparation! Jane Austen
[I]t is well to have as many holds upon happiness...
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[I]t is well to have as many holds upon happiness as possible. Jane Austen
He will make you happy, Fanny; I know he will...
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He will make you happy, Fanny; I know he will make you happy; but you will make him everything. Jane Austen
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She was happy, she knew she was happy, and knew she ought to be happy. Jane Austen
How often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparation!
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How often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparation! Jane Austen
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…she had nothing to do but to forgive herself and be happier than ever… Jane Austen
But there was happiness elsewhere which no description can reach.
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But there was happiness elsewhere which no description can reach. Jane Austen
Happiness must preclude false indulgence and physic.
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Happiness must preclude false indulgence and physic. Jane Austen
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But to appear happy when I am so miserable – Oh! who can require it? Jane Austen
I will not talk of my own happiness, ' said...
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I will not talk of my own happiness, ' said he, 'great as it is, for I think only of yours. Compared with you, who has the right to be happy? Jane Austen
I was uncomfortable enough. I was very uncomfortable, I may...
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I was uncomfortable enough. I was very uncomfortable, I may say unhappy. Jane Austen
Yet some happiness must and would arise, from the very...
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Yet some happiness must and would arise, from the very conviction, that he did suffer. Jane Austen
She had received ideas which disposed her to be courteous...
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She had received ideas which disposed her to be courteous and kind to all, and to pity every one, as being less happy than herself. Jane Austen
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…for I look upon the Frasers to be about as unhappy as most other married people. Jane Austen
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I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant. You alone have brought me to Bath. For you alone, I think and plan. Have you not seen this? Can you fail to have understood my wishes? I had not waited even these ten days, could I have read your feelings, as I think you must have penetrated mine. I can hardly write. I am every instant hearing something which overpowers me. You sink your voice, but I can distinguish the tones of that voice when they would be lost on others. Too good, too excellent creature! You do us justice, indeed. You do believe that there is true attachment and constancy among men. Believe it to be most fervent, most undeviating, in F. W.I must go, uncertain of my fate; but I shall return hither, or follow your party, as soon as possible. A word, a look, will be enough to decide whether I enter your father's house this evening or never. Jane Austen
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The Very first moment I beheld him, my heart was irrevocably gone. Jane Austen
We all know him to be a proud, unpleasant sort...
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We all know him to be a proud, unpleasant sort of man; but this would be nothing if you really liked him. Jane Austen
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It would be mortifying to the feelings of many ladies, could they be made to understand how little the heart of a man is affected by what is costly or new in their attire.. Woman is fine for her own satisfaction alone. No man will admire her the more, no woman will like her the better for it. Neatness and fashion are enough for the former, and a something of shabbiness or impropriety will be most endearing to the latter. . Jane Austen
She had been forced into prudence in her youth, she...
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She had been forced into prudence in her youth, she learned romance as she grew older: the natural sequel of an unnatural beginning. Jane Austen
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She certainly did not hate him. No; hatred had vanished long ago, and she had almost as long been ashamed of ever feeling a dislike against him, that could be so called. The respect created by the conviction of his valuable qualities, though at first unwillingly admitted, had for some time ceased to be repugnant to her feelings; and it was now heightened into somewhat of a friendlier nature, by the testimony so highly in his favour, and bringing forward his disposition in so amiable a light, which yesterday had produced. But above all, above respect and esteem, there was a motive within her of good will which could not be overlooked. It was gratitude.-- Gratitude not merely for having once loved her, but for loving her still well enough, to forgive all the petulance and acrimony of her manner in rejecting him, and all the unjust accusations accompanying her rejection. He who, she had been persuaded, would avoid her as his greatest enemy, seemed, on this accidental meeting, most eager to preserve the acquaintance, and without any indelicate display of regard, or any peculiarity of manner, where their two selves only were concerned, was soliciting the good opinion of her friends, and bent on making her known to his sister. Such a change in a man of so much pride, excited not only astonishment but gratitude--for to love, ardent love, it must be attributed; and as such its impression on her was of a sort to be encouraged, as by no means unpleasing, though it could not exactly be defined. . Jane Austen
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She understood him. He could not forgive her, -but he could not be unfeeling. Though condemning her for the past, and considering it with high and unjest resentment, though perfectly careless of her, and though becoming attached to another, still he could not see her suffer, without the desire of giving her relief. It was a remainder of former sentiment; it was an impuse of pure, though unacknowledged friendship; it was a proof of his own warm and amiable heart, which she could not contemplate without emotions so compounded of pleasure and pain, that she knew not which prevailed. . Jane Austen
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They had no conversation together, no intercourse but what the commonest civility required. Once so much to each other! Now nothing! There had been a time, when of all the large party now filling the drawing-room at Uppercross, they would have found it most difficult to cease to speak to one another. With the exception, perhaps, of Admiral and Mrs. Croft, who seemed particularly attached and happy, (Anne could allow no other exception even among the married couples) there could have been no two hearts so open, no tastes so simliar, no feelings so in unison, no countenances so beloved. Now they were as strangers; nay, worse than strangers, for they could never become aquainted. It was a perpetual estrangement. Jane Austen
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Oh! " cried Anne eagerly, "I hope I do justice to all that is felt by you, and by those who resemble you. God forbid that I should undervaluethe warm and faithful feelings of any of my fellow-creatures! I should deserve utter contempt if I dared to suppose that true attachmentand constancy were known only by woman. No, I believe you capableof everything great and good in your married lives. I believe you equalto every important exertion, and to every domestic forbearance, so long as--if I may be allowed the expression--so long as you havean object. I mean while the woman you love lives, and lives for you. All the privilege I claim for my own sex (it is not a very enviable one;you need not covet it), is that of loving longest, when existenceor when hope is gone. Jane Austen
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We must not be so ready to fancy ourselves intentionally injured. We must not expect a lively young man to be always so guarded and circumspect. It is very often nothing but our own vanity that deceives us. Women fancy admiration means more than it does. Jane Austen
Have you any other objection than your belief of my...
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Have you any other objection than your belief of my indifference?"- Elizabeth Bennet Jane Austen
But I hate to hear you talking so like a...
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But I hate to hear you talking so like a fine gentleman, and as if women were all fine ladies, instead of rational creatures. We none of us expect to be in smooth water all our days. Jane Austen
I have been used to consider poetry as the food...
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I have been used to consider poetry as the food of love. Jane Austen
I can feel no sentiment of approbation inferior to love.
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I can feel no sentiment of approbation inferior to love. Jane Austen
Te aseguro que no soy de las que quieren a...
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Te aseguro que no soy de las que quieren a medias. Mis sentimientos siempre son profundos y arraigados"... Jane Austen
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They danced again, and when the assembly closed, parted, on the lady’s side at least, with a strong inclination for continuing the acquaintance. Whether she thought of him so much while she drank her warm wine and water and prepared herself for bed as to dream of him when there, cannot be ascertained; but I hope it was no more than in a light slumber, or a morning doze at most, for if it be true, as a celebrated writer has maintained, that no young lady can be justified in falling in love before the gentleman’s love is declared, it must be very improper that a young lady should dream of a gentlemen before the gentleman is first known to have dreamed of her. Jane Austen
It is your turn to say something now, Mr. Darcy....
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It is your turn to say something now, Mr. Darcy. I talked about the dance, and you ought to make some kind of remark on the size of the room, or the number of couples. Jane Austen
All the privilege I claim for my own sex, is...
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All the privilege I claim for my own sex, is that of loving longest, when existence or when hope is gone. Jane Austen
Every moment has its pleasures and its hope.
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Every moment has its pleasures and its hope. Jane Austen
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But a sanguine temper, though for ever expecting more good than occurs, does not always pay for its hopes by any proportionate depression. it soon flies over the present failure, and begins to hope again. Jane Austen
…told herself likewise not to hope. But it was too...
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…told herself likewise not to hope. But it was too late. Hope had already entered… Jane Austen
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I have been used to consider poetry as "the food of love" said Darcy."Of a fine, stout, healthy love it may. Everything nourishes what isstrong already. But if it be only a slight, thin sort of inclination, Iam convinced that one good sonnet will starve it entirely away. Jane Austen
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However, he wrote some verses on her, and very pretty they were.” “And so ended his affection, ” said Elizabeth impatiently. “There has been many a one, I fancy, overcome in the same way. I wonder who first discovered the efficacy of poetry in driving away love! ” “I have been used to consider poetry as the food of love, ” said Darcy. “Of a fine, stout, healthy love it may. Everything nourishes what is strong already. But if it be only a slight, thin sort of inclination, I am convinced that one good sonnet will starve it entirely away. Jane Austen
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She thought it was the misfortune of poetry, to be seldom safely enjoyed by those who enjoyed it completely; and that the strong feelings which alone could estimate it truly, were the very feelings which ought to taste it but sparingly. Jane Austen
I have been used to consider poetry as the food...
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I have been used to consider poetry as the food of love Jane Austen
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I could not sit seriously down to write a serious Romance under any other motive than to save my life, & if it were indispensable for me to keep it up & never relax into laughing at myself or other people, I am sure I should be hung before I had finished the first chapter. No - I must keep my own style & go on in my own way; and though I may never succeed again in that, I am convinced that I should totally fail in any other. Jane Austen
[I]f a book is well written, I always find it...
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[I]f a book is well written, I always find it too short. Jane Austen
A woman, especially if she have the misfortune of knowing...
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A woman, especially if she have the misfortune of knowing anything, should conceal it as well as she can. Jane Austen
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She was heartily ashamed of her ignorance - a misplaced shame. Where people wish to attach, they should always be ignorant. To come with a well−informed mind is to come with an inability of administering to the vanity of others, which a sensible person would always wish to avoid. A woman especially, if she have the misfortune of knowing anything, should conceal it as well as she can. Jane Austen
Facts or opinions which are to pass through the hands...
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Facts or opinions which are to pass through the hands of so many, to be misconceived by folly in one, and ignorance in another, can hardly have much truth left. Jane Austen
Give a girl an education and introduce her properly into...
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Give a girl an education and introduce her properly into the world, and ten to one but she has the means of settling well, without further expense to anybody. Jane Austen
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There is, I believe, in every disposition a tendency to some particular evil, a natural defect, which not even the best education can overcome."" And your defect is a propensity to hate everybody."" And yours, " he replied with a smile, "is wilfully to misunderstand them. Jane Austen
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The advantages of natural folly in a beautiful girl have been already set forth by the capital pen of a sister author; and to her treatment of the subject I will only add, in justice to men, that though to the larger and more trifling part of the sex, imbecility in females is a great enhancement of their personal charms, there is a portion of them too reasonable and too well informed themselves to desire anything more in woman than ignorance. Jane Austen
There certainly was some great mismanagement in the education of...
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There certainly was some great mismanagement in the education of those two young men. One has got all the goodness, and the other all the appearance of it. Jane Austen