Jane Austen Quotes

A season for friendly meetings

Today we have Mr. Elton giving the opposite perspective on holiday parties:

"This is quite the season indeed for friendly meetings. At Christmas every body invites their friends about them, and people think little of even the worst weather. I was snowed up at a friend's house once for a week. Nothing could be pleasanter. I went for only one night, and could not get away till that very day se'nnight."

Emma, volume 1, chapter 13

This image of Steventon rectory is from Jane Odiwe's Austen Effusions -- isn't it lovely?  I am all for snow, and for getting snowed in with friends.

For all the homebodies out there

Life is conspiring against me again.  I spent yesterday flat on my back dealing with the vicissitudes of Lyme disease -- ugh.

Today's quote is Mr. John Knightley being rather difficult on Christmas Eve as he and Emma head to the Westons (but who doesn't want to spend Christmas Eve at home with his family?  At least if he is difficult, I can sympathize.):

"A man," said he, "must have a very good opinion of himself when he asks people to leave their own fireside, and encounter such a day as this, for the sake of coming to see him. He must think himself a most agreeable fellow; I could not do such a thing. It is the greatest absurdity—Actually snowing at this moment!—The folly of not allowing people to be comfortable at home—and the folly of people's not staying comfortably at home when they can! If we were obliged to go out such an evening as this, by any call of duty or business, what a hardship we should deem it;—and here are we, probably with rather thinner clothing than usual, setting forward voluntarily, without excuse, in defiance of the voice of nature, which tells man, in every thing given to his view or his feelings, to stay at home himself, and keep all under shelter that he can;—here are we setting forward to spend five dull hours in another man's house, with nothing to say or to hear that was not said and heard yesterday, and may not be said and heard again to-morrow. Going in dismal weather, to return probably in worse;—four horses and four servants taken out for nothing but to convey five idle, shivering creatures into colder rooms and worse company than they might have had at home."

Emma, volume 1, chapter 13

Oh, Henry!

"His [letter] to me was most affectionate & kind, as well as entertaining;--there is no merit to him in that, he cannot help being amusing."

letter to Cassandra, about their dear brother Henry, who was a bit of a man-about-town, charming, good-looking, and fun
April 11, 1805 [43]

This lonely kind of life

Yesterday was the anniversary of Jane's birth during the cold winter of 1775 in the little village of Steventon.  In honor of that, here's one of my favorite Austen family quotes.  This is George, Jane's father, writing to his sister-in-law.  Cassandra Austen had gone to help her sister in childbirth.  George writes from his now-quiet rectory,

"I don't much like this lonely kind of Life."

And when he talked about the family possibly paying a visit, he said,

"I say we, for I certainly shall not let my Wife come alone, & I dare say she will not leave her children behind her."

I love this.  You can just see the country rector, who didn't marry until he was almost thirty-three, in his rather plain small house, missing his dear wife.

This lovely image of Jane and her dad is from Jane Odiwe's web site, Austen Effusions, and is available as a gift card.

Quote is from Deirdre Le Faye's Jane Austen: A Family Record, p. 23.

Delightful bathing

Ack.  Here it is, Friday, and I am once again back with my 'daily' quote.  Life has gotten in the way again.  As usually happens with construction projects, once they got into things they found more problems, especially with the front door -- rotten wood and termite damage -- and everything took longer than expected.  It's now all done.  The office is beautiful, sunny and warm.  I love it.  Pics soon.

Anyway, on to today's quote, written from Lyme:

"The Bathing was so delightful this morning & Molly so pressing with me to enjoy myself that I believe I staid in rather too long, as since the middle of the day I have felt unreasonably tired.  I shall be more careful another time, & shall not bathe tomorrow, as I had before intended."

letter to Cassandra
September 14, 1804 [39]

I love that feeling of having swam in the ocean for too long.  I always wondered what a bathing machine was, which Jane would have used when she swam.  It sounds like quite a contraption, but actually it was just a little cart to keep people from seeing you in your bathing clothes.  More info on Wikipedia.

Cardinal virtues

The guys are here again today working on the house -- fixing the front door, putting tile in the basement hallway, finishing the paint.  They're such great guys.  I think I'll miss having them around when they're done.  Hopefully moving the office downstairs tomorrow!  Anyway, hoping to be back on the regular schedule this week.

Of James, one of the family's servants:

"James is the delight of our lives . . . He waits extremely well, is attentive, handy, quick, & quiet, and in short has a great many more than all the cardinal virtues (for the cardinal virtues in themselves have been so often possessed that they are no longer worth having)--& amongst the rest, that of wishing to go to Bath."

letter to Cassandra, from Lyme
September 14, 1804 [39]

Check out Arti's pics from Bath.  Wanting to visit Bath is indeed a virtue. ;-)

A head full of paint chips...

I'm falling down on the job here!  There are a bunch of guys here working on my basement, converting it to an office.  They've now got the sliding door out to replace it and it's FREEZING!  And do you know how hard it is to choose paint colors?  There are about a thousand shades of white -- snow white, linen white, simply white, cloud white -- and just because they call something white doesn't mean it really is.  It could be slightly blue or purple or green, but it's so hard to tell under those darn fluorescent lights.  And don't get me started on yellow.

Anyway, today I offer this paraphrase.  I looked for the original and couldn't find it -- something about when Jane was keeping house and had a head "full of joints of mutton" and some kind of pudding.  ;-)

It's impossible to write with a head full of paint chips and tile samples.  (Oh, the original is much better.)

School mistresses

With my apologies to all the teachers out there.

"Were I going to send a girl to school I would send her to this person; to be rational in anything is great praise, especially in the ignorant class of school mistresses."

Of a lady Jane met in Bath
letter to Cassandra
April 9, 1805 [43]

Nobody brilliant

"A handsome young Man certainly, with quiet, gentlemanlike manners.--I set him down as sensible rather than Brilliant.--There is nobody Brilliant nowadays."

letter to Cassandra, about John Plumptre
September 23, 1813 [89]