Jane Austen Quotes

Age & infirmity

“'Colonel Brandon is certainly younger than Mrs. Jennings, but he is old enough to be my father; and if he were ever animated enough to be in love, must have long outlived every sensation of the kind.  It is too ridiculous!  When is a man to be safe from such wit if age and infirmity will not protect him?’”

Marianne again on Colonel Brandon’s advanced age of thirty-five, reflecting on his “advanced years and on his forlorn condition of an old bachelor”
Sense & Sensibility, volume 1, chapter 8

I think I could put up with Colonel Brandon's age and infirmity.

I didn't get to see S&S last night.  Between puppy-sitting this weekend, and a deadline this morning (which I missed - ack!), my weekend went by too fast.  Hoping to watch it tonight.  Did you love it -- hate it?  I did catch the very beginning today over lunch, and thought the opening scene would be a bit confusing if you didn't know the story and already know who that was.

A woman of a certain age

“'A woman of seven and twenty,’ said Marianne, after pausing a moment, 'can never hope to feel or inspire affection again.’”

Sense & Sensibility, volume 1, chapter 8

Thank goodness Jane did not believe this!

To wish was to hope

"She new that what Marianne and her mother conjectured one moment, they believed the next: that with them, to wish was to hope, and to hope was to expect.  She tried to explain the real state of the case to her sister.
’I do not attempt to deny,’ said she, ‘that I think very highly of him—that I greatly esteem, that I like him.’"

Elinor confronting the expectations of Mrs. Dashwood and Marianne
Sense and Sensibility, volume 1, chapter 4

But really, isn't that the state of women in general?  We hope and expect so much, as Darcy reminds us. 

The measure of a man?

“'Brandon is just the kind of man,’ said Willoughby one day when they were talking of him together, 'whom everybody speaks well of, and nobody cares about; whom all are delighted to see, and nobody remembers to talk to.’”

Sense & Sensibility, volume 1, chapter 10

Then again, Willoughby is the kind of boy who gets girls pregnant and leaves them to fend for themselves, disgraced and alone in the world.

David Morissey as Colonel Brandon.  ©BBC 2007 for Masterpiece™

On walking the high downs

"'Is there a felicity in the world superior to this?  Margaret, we will walk here at least two hours.'"

Marianne on her walk with Margaret, when it looks like rain, just before she meets Willoughby
Sense & Sensibility, volume 1, chapter 9 (emphasis mine)

Love this little gem of Marianne's enthusiasm...

I require so much!

"I could not be happy with a man whose taste did not in every point coincide with my own.  He must enter into all my feelings; the same books, the same music must charm us both. . . .

Mama, the more I know of the world, the more am I convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love.  I require so much!"

Marianne
Sense and Sensibility, volume 1, chapter 3

Charity Wakefield as Marianne Dashwood.  ©BBC 2007 for Masterpiece™

Dear Emma

How did you like Emma last night?  I only saw a tiny bit, but enough to remind me how much I love that movie.  Next week, the one I've been waiting for, the new Sense and Sensibility.  Whoo-hoo!

Such happiness

"It is such a happiness when good people get together--and they always do."

Miss Bates
Emma, volume 2, chapter 3

Enjoy Emma on Sunday!

An old maid!

"You will be an old maid! and that's so dreadful!"  [Harriet]

"Never mind, Harriet, I shall not be a poor old maid; and it is poverty only which makes celibacy contemptible to a generous public! A single woman, with a very narrow income, must be a ridiculous, disagreeable old maid! the proper sport of boys and girls, but a single woman, of good fortune, is always respectable, and may be as sensible and pleasant as any body else."  [Emma]

Emma, volume 1, chapter 10

I heard a conversation on The View a couple weeks ago which I think almost could have been taken from Emma.  The girls were talking about whether or not single women should settle for a guy they aren't totally romantically in love with (I think the conversation was sparked by Lori Gottlieb's article in The Atlantic -- I have much to say about that! but will save it for later).  Anyway, Barbara was saying how much of a difference money makes, and how much easier it is to be a single woman when money is no issue.  Reminded me of this quote.

Badly done

I have to return to this -- perhaps my favorite quote from Emma.  And as much as I like Mark Strong's Mr. Knightley (and I do), who can resist Jeremy Northam? <swoon>

"It was badly done, indeed! You, whom she had known from an infant, whom she had seen grow up from a period when her notice was an honour, to have you now, in thoughtless spirits, and the pride of the moment, laugh at her, humble her--and before her niece, too--and before others, many of whom (certainly some,) would be entirely guided by your treatment of her.--This is not pleasant to you, Emma--and it is very far from pleasant to me; but I must, I will,--I will tell you truths while I can."

Dear Mr. Knightley chastising Emma for her ill treatment of Miss Bates
Emma, volume 3, chapter 7