Jane Austen was a famous English novelist, who spent a lot of time writing about how the aristocracy should be.
Mary Shelley, whose works include Frankenstein, had created a legend that lives on till this day.
In the novels Austen comments upon the gentry’s status and behaviour and how they depended on their landed status. Her plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage in pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security.
In the collection of quotes that I have gathered on here, it also shows what one can learn from Jane Austen.
37 Timeless Jane Austen Quotes
I’m aware that “frivolous distinction” is not the best translation of the original. I decided to not change the original wording because I find it to be more poetic and eloquent than the paraphrase.
Some people are good at getting along with everyone, but that’s not me. I like to pick my fights.
You’ll be humble if you have money, but if you have enough money, that will make you arrogant because you think you’re rich and you have lots of things.
Mr. Digweed was very cunning. Cunning people often look very ugly. Therefore, Mr. Digweed is a very ugly man.
It’s a good idea to keep your style unique. One person’s personal style should not be the rule for another.
People who do not do anything for themselves will not do anything for others.
Many of our ancestors are fond of dancing because to them it means love and romance.
Without music, life would be boring to me.
The reason why people laugh at others is that they do not have the same goals as them in life.
10th of 37 Jane Austen Quotes
This was one of the most famous lines in any book in any language. I wanted to write a modern take on it that I could understand, and I knew I wanted it to be a man talking. Persuade was my first attempt to do that.
This is the first line from Sense and Sensibility. It’s not what we say or think, it’s what we do.
“Next week I shall begin my operations on my hat, on which you know my principal hopes of happiness are depended.”
Both phrases sound a bit wordy, I think. I would use the original.
“Selfishness must always be forgiven you know, because there is no hope of a cure” – from Mansfield Park by Jane Austen.
Tenderness of heart is really tenderness of heart.
Pride is a feeling of superiority. To me, it means to feel good about yourself, not inferior to others, but that can also be applied to a situation where you have more money, a better car, better job, or maybe a better-looking face.
Vanity is having an inflated feeling of how good your life is by comparing yourself to others, but that is not a very good feeling.
I don’t like to waste money too much when buying a small thing as a present.
If you can educate women, you can prevent them from having children they don’t want, and you can convince them to adopt children they do want.
In vain I struggle. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.
You should only desire to be happy and not to know what happiness is. It is possible to have hope and for that to not bring you happiness.
20th of 37 Jane Austen Quotes
In a similar way, nobody minds having what is too good for them.
Surprises are foolish things.
The pleasure is not enhanced, and the inconvenience is often considerable.
No idea if this is how he says it, but I’m guessing it goes something like “I will do anything for true friends, I wouldn’t treat anyone with half the heart and friendship I have for them.”
This is another one that I think is almost correct but not quite. It’s definitely a paraphrase, but it’s just a little off.
Vanity isn’t working on a weak head, and it’s causing all sorts of mischief.
In the book, Mr. Darcy says that happiness in marriage is totally random. He claims that people’s happiness level is always changing, depending on chance events and other factors.
When you come across people who say that they don’t believe in imagination and imagination is just a waste of time, tell them: you can’t think of a reason because they don’t understand imagination.
You don’t get to laugh at me when I say I love my friends. You may say “oh come on, I wasn’t laughing at you”. But I know you were.
A lot of people think that they work their hardest as they get older, but they don’t really know what their hardest is.
Every day I see more of the world and become more dissatisfied with it. This is a very common theme in literature, that the more that we learn about the world the less we like or trust it.
Loving someone is not an easy task, it requires sacrifice and a lot of effort. It also means the need for a person to know one thing: how to love properly.
30th of 37 Jane Austen Quotes
I hate tiny parties, they make me feel as if I had to exert myself when I really don’t want to do anything.
To be able to understand and get along with people, you must be able to understand the different opinions of others.
But that is only half true. We should work to bring about common understanding between people of different nations.
Novels are enjoyable when they’re good. If you don’t like them, there could be an explanation.
There are lots of people who are very happy who haven’t been given a taste for nature since they were kids.
In the novel Mansfield Park, the character Fanny Price, in speaking of the guidance of her own conscience, compares herself favorably to her husband and his friends, who have become so wrapped up in their social standing and family’s reputation that they have been blinded to the truth of their own actions, a theme that reappears throughout the novel.
Summary
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