Jane Austen Quotes

Advantageous idleness

" . . . as I might be as dashing and expensive without a red coat on my back as with one, idleness was pronounced on the whole to be most advantageous and honourable . . . "

Sense and Sensibility volume 1, chapter 19

Spoken by Edward Ferrars, about his difficulty finding a calling that would please both himself and his family

Properly idle

" . . . a young man of eighteen is not in general so earnestly bent on being busy as to resist the solicitations of his friends to do nothing."

Sense and Sensibility, volume 1, chapter 19

Spoken by Edward Ferrars

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™

Too excellent creature!

"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."

Captain Wentworth's letter to Anne, in the Musgrove's room at the White Hart in Bath
Persuasion, volume 2, chapter 11

The misery of being bound without Love

"The unpleasantness of appearing fickle is certainly great--but if you think you want Punishment for past Illusions, there it is--and nothing can compare to the misery of being bound without Love, bound to one, & preferring another.  That is a Punishment which you do not deserve."

letter to her niece Fanny Knight
November 30, 1814 [114]

Another Man

"It is very true that you never may attach another Man, his equal altogether, but if that other Man has the power of attaching you more, he will be in your eyes the most perfect."

letter to her niece Fanny Knight
November 30, 1814 [114]

A possible Evil

"I am at present more impressed with the possible Evil that may arise to You from engaging yourself to him--in word or mind--than with anything else.  When I consider how few young Men you have yet seen much of--how capable you are (yes, I do still think you very capable) of being really in love--and how full of temptation the next 6 or 7 years of your Life will probably be--(it is the very period of Life for the strongest attachments to be formed)--I cannot wish you with your present very cool feelings to devote yourself in honour to him."

letter to her niece Fanny Knight
November 30, 1814 [114]

I think they quoted this nearly directly in Miss Austen Regrets. Olivia Williams as Jane Austen.

A truth universally acknowledged

Here's the very first (and often quoted) first line of P&P -- the one this blog began with more than a year ago.

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."

Pride & Prejudice, Volume 1, Chapter 1

Indeed!  Alas, dear Colin already has a wife...

Image from the lovely Jane Austen Today blog, home of all things related to Austen-mania.  Vote in their polls about the PBS flicks, read reviews, and learn more about all the new films and the actors playing our favorite characters.

Here's the very first (and often quoted) first line of P&P -- the one this blog began with more than a year ago.

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."

Pride & Prejudice, Volume 1, Chapter 1

Indeed!  Alas, dear Colin already has a wife...

Image from the lovely Jane Austen Today blog, home of all things related to Austen-mania.  Vote in their polls about the PBS flicks, read reviews, and learn more about all the new films and the actors playing our favorite characters.

Such sort of Disappointments

"Things are now in such a state, that you must resolve upon one or the other, either allow him to go on as he has done, or whenever you are together behave with a coldness which may convince him that he has been deceiving himself.--I have no doubt of his suffering a good deal for a time, a great deal, when he feels he must give you up;--but it is no creed of mine, as you must be well aware, that such sort of Disappointments kill anybody."

letter to her niece, Fanny Knight, about Mr. John Plumptre, whom Fanny was considering marrying
November 18, 1814 [109]

A dirty Shaving Rag

"Your trying to excite your own feelings by a visit to his room amused me excessively.--The dirty Shaving Rag was exquisite!--Such a circumstance ought to be in print.  Much too good to be lost."

letter to her niece, Fanny Knight, about Mr. John Plumptre, whom Fanny was considering marrying
November 18, 1814 [109]