Quotes by Jane Austen

• Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love.
• Where youth and diffidence are united, it requires uncommon steadiness of reason to resist the attraction of being called the most charming girl in the world.
• Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance.
• Where an opinion is general, it is usually correct.
• Good-humoured, unaffected girls, will not do for a man who has been used to sensible women. They are two distinct orders of being.
• What wild imaginations one forms where dear self is concerned! How sure to be mistaken!
• 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.
• General benevolence, but not general friendship, made a man what he ought to be.
• From politics, it was an easy step to silence.
• For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors and laugh at them in our turn?
• Every man is surrounded by a neighborhood of voluntary spies.
• Dress is at all times a frivolous distinction, and excessive solicitude about it often destroys its own aim.
• Business, you know, may bring you money, but friendship hardly ever does.
• An engaged woman is always more agreeable than a disengaged. She is satisfied with herself. Her cares are over, and she feels that she may exert all her powers of pleasing without suspicion. All is safe with a lady engaged; no harm can be done.
• An artist cannot do anything slovenly.
• A person who can write a long letter with ease, cannot write ill.
• A mind lively and at ease, can do with seeing nothing, and can see nothing that does not answer.
• A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of.
• A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.
• How quick come the reasons for approving what we like!
• Husbands and wives generally understand when opposition will be vain.
• It will, I believe, be everywhere found, that as the clergy are, or are not what they ought to be, so are the rest of the nation.
• It sometimes happens that a woman is handsomer at twenty-nine than she was ten years before.
• 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?
• It is always incomprehensible to a man that a woman should ever refuse an offer of marriage.
• It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.
• If things are going untowardly one month, they are sure to mend the next.
• If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.
• I have been a selfish being all my life, in practice, though not in principle.
• I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal.
• I am afraid that the pleasantness of an employment does not always evince its propriety.
• Human nature is so well disposed towards those who are in interesting situations, that a young person, who either marries or dies, is sure of being kindly spoken of.
• I cannot speak well enough to be unintelligible.
• 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.
• There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart.
• Oh! do not attack me with your watch. A watch is always too fast or too slow. I cannot be dictated to by a watch.
• One cannot be always laughing at a man without now and then stumbling on something witty.
• One does not love a place the less for having suffered in it, unless it has been all suffering, nothing but suffering.
• One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other.
• One man's style must not be the rule of another's.
• One man's ways may be as good as another's, but we all like our own best.
• Respect for right conduct is felt by every body.
• 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.
• Selfishness must always be forgiven you know, because there is no hope of a cure.
• Surprises are foolish things. The pleasure is not enhanced, and the inconvenience is often considerable.
• The more I know of the world, the more I am convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love.
• The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.
• Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery.
• To flatter and follow others, without being flattered and followed in turn, is but a state of half enjoyment.
• What is right to be done cannot be done too soon.
• We have all a better guide in ourselves, if we would attend to it, than any other person can be.
• We do not look in our great cities for our best morality.
• Vanity working on a weak head, produces every sort of mischief.
• Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves; vanity, to what we would have others think of us.
• There are certainly not so many men of large fortune in the world, as there are pretty women to deserve them.
• To look almost pretty is an acquisition of higher delight to a girl who has been looking plain for the first fifteen years of her life than a beauty from her cradle can ever receive.
• There are people, who the more you do for them, the less they will do for themselves.
• To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love.
• Those who do not complain are never pitied.
• They are much to be pitied who have not been given a taste for nature early in life.
• There is something so amiable in the prejudices of a young mind, that one is sorry to see them give way to the reception of more general opinions.
• There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.
• 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.
• To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment.
• Nothing is more deceitful than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an indirect boast.
• Next to being married, a girl likes to be crossed in love a little now and then.
• My sore throats are always worse than anyone's.
• My idea of good company is the company of clever, well-informed people who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company.
• Nobody minds having what is too good for them.
• Life seems but a quick succession of busy nothings.
• Do not be afraid to stand out, for it is our differences that make us truly remarkable.
• The heart knows no bounds, only the mind creates limitations.
• Success is not about conforming to society's standards, but about staying true to your own values and beliefs.
• Don't be afraid to stand out in a crowd, for that is where true greatness lies.
• Embrace your uniqueness, for the world thrives on diversity and individuality.
• Success is not about climbing the ladder of what society deems as important, but about finding fulfillment in your own unique journey.
• The greatest treasure is embracing your own uniqueness amidst the chaos of conformity.
• Success is not measured by the height one has climbed, but by the depth one has touched.
• Dare to be different, for conformity is the enemy of true expression.
• Success is not defined by the amount of praise you receive, but by the amount of integrity you maintain.
• The key to true happiness lies in embracing imperfection, for it is our flaws that make us beautifully human.
• Let your actions speak louder than your words, for in the end, it is what you do that defines you.
• Embrace the beauty in imperfection, for it is in our flaws that true grace is found.
• Success is not found in conforming to expectations, but in daring to defy them with authenticity.
• Embrace your quirks and authentic self, for in a world full of copies, originality prevails.
• Do not be afraid to stand alone, for it is in your solitude that you will truly find your strength.
• Embrace the beauty of your own uniqueness, for in a sea of copycats, originality shines brightest.
• Success is not determined by the obstacles you face, but by the courage you have to overcome them.
• Do not be afraid to stand out in a world that expects you to blend in, for your uniqueness is your greatest strength.
• Cherish your uniqueness, for in a world of copies, originality is a rare treasure.
• Believe in the power of your own uniqueness, for imitation is the sincerest form of limitation.
• Your identity is your most valuable possession; guard it fiercely against the pressures of conformity.
• Success is not measured by wealth or fame, but by the legacy of kindness and goodness we leave behind.
• In a world where conformity is prized, true strength lies in the courage to embrace one's uniqueness.
• Embrace the chaos within you, for it is in forging order from the unexpected that true creativity is born.
• Adversity is the whetstone of talent.
• Every great story starts with a single word and the courage to write it.
• The pull of love is so strong that it can bridge even the widest of rivers.
• Where there is love, there is endurance.
• Even the smallest act of kindness can bring sunshine into someone's day.
• Humor is our way of revealing who we truly are when we don’t take ourselves too seriously.
• Don't strive to impress others, but rather live in a way that impresses yourself.
• Success may be an elusive cupcake; relish the crumbs along the way.
• Success is the art of winkling wisdom from every stumble, casting humor in the face of defeat.
• Life is a grand adventure; if you find a detour, don't worry—it's just poetry writing its own lines!
• Life is like a cucumber; first it bursts, then you pickle it.
• Life is like a cup of tea; all the flavor comes from how you steep it!
• Challenges are just unexpected plot twists in the novel of your life; embrace them fully, and send winks to the seasons after.
• Life is like a pancake—don't be afraid of the flip.
• Happiness is how you feel right now, not how you search for it in the future.
• Sometimes it's the smallest things that take up the most room in our hearts, like yesterday’s cookies devoured during late-night brainstorming.