Jane Austen Quotes

I am not at all in a humor for writing; I must write on till I am.

. . . there seems almost a general wish of decrying the capacity and undervaluing the labor of the novelist, and of slighting the performances which have only genius, wit, and taste to recommend them.

—From Northanger Abbey

Nothing ever fatigues me, but doing what I do not like.

Life is just a quick succession of busy nothings.

—From Mansfield Park

An artist cannot do anything slovenly.

—From a letter dated November 17, 1798, to her sister Cassandra

Anything is to be preferred or endured rather than marrying without affection.

—From a letter dated November 18, 1814, to her niece Fanny Knight

What dreadful hot weather we have! It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance.

—From a letter dated September 18, 1796

I must confess that I think her as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print.

—About the character Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice, in a letter dated January 29, 1813, to her sister Cassandra

I do not write for such dull elves
As have not a great deal of ingenuity themselves.

—From a letter dated January 29, 1813, to her sister Cassandra

I do not want people to be agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them.

Where so many hours have been spent in convincing myself that I am right, is there not some reason to fear I may wrong?

One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other.

—From Emma

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

—From Pride and Prejudice

It is always incomprehensible to a man that a woman should ever refuse an offer of marriage.

—From Pride and Prejudice

Wisdom is better than wit, and in the long run will certainly have the laugh on her side.

—From a letter dated November 18, 1814, to her niece Fanny Knight

The person, whether it be a gentleman or a lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.

—From Northanger Abbey

Why not seize the pleasure at once, how often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparations?

Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love.

—From Northanger Abbey

In every power, of which taste is the foundation, excellence is pretty fairly divided between the sexes.

—From Northanger Abbey

At my time of life opinions are tolerably fixed. It is not likely that I should now see or hear anything that will change them.

—From Sense and Sensibility