Jane Austen Quotes

On the assumptions everyone makes about why you are dating someone:

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

On admitting your own ego is part of the grudge:

I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.

On refusing family pressure over who to marry:

I am only resolved to act in that manner, which will, in my own opinion, constitute my happiness, without reference to you, or to any person so wholly unconnected with me.

Deciding whether to hold your ground against someone trying to pressure you:

There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises with every attempt to intimidate me.

Sorting out whether your resistance to a choice is principle or vanity:

Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously.

On reaching back out to a love you walked away from years ago:

You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. I have loved none but you.

On choosing warmth over cleverness when picking a partner:

There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart.

Deciding whether to reopen a relationship with someone you never stopped loving:

I have loved none but you.

On trusting your own conscience over everyone else's advice:

We have all a better guide in ourselves, if we would attend to it, than any other person can be.

Deciding whether to adopt someone else's way of living or trust your own:

One man's ways may be as good as another's, but we all like our own best.

On growing cynical about love after being let down:

The more I know of the world, the more I am convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love.

Trusting a fast connection with someone instead of waiting for time to prove it:

It is not time or opportunity that is to determine intimacy; it is disposition alone. Seven years would be insufficient to make some people acquainted with each other, and seven days are more than enough for others.

On turning down a secure marriage that has no love in it:

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

Being told a hard truth by someone who actually has your interest at heart:

Better be without sense than misapply it as you do.

Deciding how far loyalty to a friend should actually extend:

There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves.