Jane Austen's Birthday Blog
Happy Birthday Jane Austen! Queen of Classic Literature and one of our all time favourite authors. 😊 We thought we'd share three of our favourite quotes from her six beloved books to mark such an occasion. (You know we love a good quote.)
Northanger Abbey
"The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid."
"There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature."
"It is only a novel… or, in short, only some work in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and humour are conveyed to the world in the best-chosen language."
Emma
“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.”
“It is very unfair to judge of any body’s conduct, without an intimate knowledge of their situation.”
“I always take the part of my own sex. I do indeed. I give you notice - You will find me a formidable antagonist on that point. I always stand up for women.”
Sense & Sensibility
“I wish, as well as everybody else, to be perfectly happy; but, like everybody else, it must be in my own way.”
“And books! She would buy them all over and over again: she would buy up every copy, I believe, to prevent their falling into unworthy hands.”
“Know your own happiness. You want nothing but patience - or give it a more fascinating name, call it hope.”
Pride and Prejudice
“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book!”
“In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.”
“My courage rises at every attempt to intimidate me.”
Mansfield Park
"But indeed, I would rather have nothing but tea."
"Everybody likes to go their own way - to choose their own time and manner of devotion."
"Selfishness must always be forgiven, you know, because there is no hope of a cure."
Persuasion
“I hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies instead of rational creatures. None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives.”
"Give him a book, and he will read all day long."
"One man's ways may be as good as another's, but we all like our own best."
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