Jane Austen Quote of the Day

The poor Miss Blackstones

"I do not like the Miss Blackstones; indeed I was always determined not to like them, so there is less merit in it."

letter to Cassandra
January 9, 1799 [17]

I am tolerably glad...

"I am tolerably glad to hear that Edward's income is so good a one--as glad as I can at anybody's being rich besides You & me."

letter to Cassandra
January 8, 1799 [17]

Edward was Jane's dear brother who was adopted by wealthy cousins.  Cassandra was staying with him at his gorgeous estate Godmersham, in Kent, when this letter was written.

And the other side...

Just to balance out Friday's quote:

"I am by no means convinced that we ought not all to be Evangelicals, & am at least persuaded that they who are so from Reason & Feeling, must be happiest & safest."

letter to her niece Fanny Knight
November 18, 1814 [109]

Fanny was apparently considering rejecting a suitor who seemed to be a little too religious.

But do you like Ioan Gruffudd?

"I do not like the Evangelicals."

letter to Cassandra
January 24, 1809 [66]

My friend Kris requested this one.  This quote makes my evangelical friends and I laugh, partly because even though we are in the evangelical camp, we understand the sentiment.

Cassandra had been telling Jane about Hannah More's new book, Coelebs in Search of a Wife, trying to get her to read it, and when Jane realized More was the author, this was her response, though she added "Of course I shall be delighted when I read it, like other people, but till I do, I dislike it."

Jane was a devout Christian.  Evangelicalism was a fairly new phenomenon, and Jane's other statements on it are not nearly so clear cut, but in general she was not comfortable talking about her faith so much as the Evangelicals were prone to do, I think.

Hannah More was a playwright and incredibly popular, part of the London social scene, a celebrity of sorts, and she was a friend of William Wilberforce, who was campaigning to abolish slavery (a cause we are sure Jane supported).  A new movie opens today, Amazing Grace starring Ioan Gruffudd as Wilberforce, whom we fell in love with as Horatio Hornblower in the A&E movies.  It's gotten great attention already, and I can't wait to see it.  Wilberforce was truly an amazing man, who, I think like Jane, would be uncomfortable with all the attention.

And I have to say, with all these new Austen adaptations coming up this year, we are only sorry that Ioan Gruffudd (pronounced yowan griffith) was not cast in any of the roles.  I think he would make the perfect Austen hero.

For more information on Wilberforce, see BreakPoint.

Perhaps we should add that we are in no way trying to imply that Ioan Gruffudd is an evangelical, as might be assumed by the juxtaposition of this title and this quote.  As he mentioned in a recent interview in Christianity Today, one's faith is a very personal thing.

An unhappy fate

"You deserve a longer letter than this; but it is my unhappy fate seldom to treat people so well as they deserve."

letter to Cassandra
December 25, 1798 [15]

More fashion headaches

"I cannot determine what to do about my new Gown; I wish such things were to be bought ready made."

letter to Cassandra
December 25, 1798 [15]

In Jane's day (it seems, I'm not entirely clear on this) fabric had to be purchased and then someone else hired to make up the dress, and I think the client had to provide a good deal of direction in some cases.  Is anyone out there an expert on 18th century fashion?

On having nothing to wear

Today's post is a bit delayed due to a great power outage here.  Thankfully, everything has once again been set aright.

"I am determined to buy a handsome [muslin Gown] whenever I can, & am so tired & ashamed of half my present stock that I even blush at the sight of the wardrobe that contains them."

letter to Cassandra
December 25, 1798 [15]

I could have danced all night

"There were twenty Dances & I danced them all, & without any fatigue. . . . I fancy I could just as well dance for a week together as for half an hour."

letter to Cassandra
December 24, 1798 [15]

The very essence of love

Happy Valentine's Day, gentle readers!  I looked for something from Jane that would be rather inspiring about love, but she actually has more sharp than flowery comments (as you would expect), so I offer you this from dear Lizzy, one of Austen's oft-quoted lines on the nature of love:

"'I never saw a more promising inclination.  He was growing quite inattentive to other people, and wholly engrossed by her.  Every time they met, it was more decided and remarkable.  At his own ball he offended two or three young ladies by not asking them to dance, and I spoke to him twice myself, without receiving an answer.  Could there be finer symptoms? Is not general incivility the very essence of love?'" 

Lizzy to her Aunt Gardiner, attempting to explain just how "violent" Bingley's affections for Jane are
Pride & Prejudice, volume 2, chapter 2 (emphasis mine)

Just the facts

"I will not torment myself with Conjectures & suppositions; Facts shall satisfy me."

letter to Cassandra; Jane had been speculating about their younger brother Charles, and why the Admiralty had kept him in the Scorpion so long rather than moving him to a frigate
December 24, 1798 [15]

By the way, if you are in the mood for Admiralty and frigates and ships firing broadside and all of that, I highly recommend the Horatio Hornblower series from A&E.  Sort of Jane Austen for boys, I think.