Jane Austen’s works are known for their wit, social commentary, and timeless observations about human nature. While it’s challenging to narrow down her best quotes to just 100, here is a selection of some notable quotes from Jane Austen’s novels:
1. “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” – Pride and Prejudice
2. “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book!” – Pride and Prejudice
3. “Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love.” – Northanger Abbey
4. “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.” – Pride and Prejudice
5.”There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart.” – Emma
6. “To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love.” – Pride and Prejudice
7. “Business, you know, may bring money, but friendship hardly ever does.” – Emma
8. “A lady’s imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.” – Pride and Prejudice
9. “We are all fools in love.” – Pride and Prejudice
10. “It isn’t what we say or think that defines us, but what we do.” – Sense and Sensibility
11. “There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.” – Emma
12. “I hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies instead of rational creatures.” – Persuasion
13. “One cannot be always laughing at a man without now and then stumbling on something witty.” – Pride and Prejudice
14. “We are all fools in love.” – Pride and Prejudice
15. “I may have lost my heart, but not my self-control.” – Emma
16. “There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.” – Pride and Prejudice
17. “The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.” – Northanger Abbey
18. “I could easily forgive his pride if he had not mortified mine.” – Pride and Prejudice
19. “A lady’s imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.” – Pride and Prejudice
20. “You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.” – Pride and Prejudice
21. “The more I know of the world, the more am I convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love.” – Sense and Sensibility
22. “A person who can write a long letter with ease, cannot write ill.” – Pride and Prejudice
23. “If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.” – Emma
24. “Silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way.” – Emma
25. “There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart.” – Emma
26. “Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance.” – Pride and Prejudice
27. “I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, but I feel that I’m hovering on the brink of something amazing.” – Northanger Abbey
28. “I was quiet, but I was not blind.” – Persuasion
29. “I have faults enough, but they are not, I hope, of understanding. My temper I dare not vouch for.” – Pride and Prejudice
30. “A woman, especially if she has the misfortune of knowing anything, should conceal it as well as she can.” – Northanger Abbey
31. “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.” – Northanger Abbey
32. “One cannot be always laughing at a man without now and then stumbling on something witty.” – Pride and Prejudice
33. “To flatter and follow others, without being flattered and followed in turn, is but a state of half enjoyment.” – Persuasion
34. “A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of.” – Mansfield Park
35. “Angry people are not always wise.” – Pride and Prejudice
36. “There is safety in reserve, but no attraction. One cannot love a reserved person.” – Emma
37. “We have all a better guide in ourselves if we would attend to it than any other person can be.” – Mansfield Park
38. “There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart.” – Emma
39. “For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors and laugh at them in our turn?” – Pride and Prejudice
40. “If adventures will not befall a young lady in her own village, she must seek them abroad.” – Northanger Abbey
41. “It is always incomprehensible to a man that a woman should ever refuse an offer of marriage.” – Emma
42. “One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other.” – Emma
43. “I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal.” – Pride and Prejudice
44. “You have delighted us long enough.” – Pride and Prejudice
45. “I cannot make speeches, Emma… If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.” – Emma
46. “There are certainly not so many men of large fortune in the world as there are pretty women to deserve them.” – Mansfield Park
47. “It is happy for you that you possess the talent of flattering with delicacy.” – Pride and Prejudice
48. “To look almost pretty is an acquisition of higher delight to a girl who has been looking plain the first fifteen years of her life than a beauty from her cradle can ever receive.” – Pride and Prejudice
49. “A girl likes to be crossed a little in love now and then.” – Pride and Prejudice
50. “We do not suffer by accident.” – Persuasion
51. “There are certainly not so many men of large fortune in the world as there are pretty women to deserve them.” – Mansfield Park
52. “There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart.” – Emma
53. “It is not time or opportunity that is to determine intimacy; it is disposition alone.” – Mansfield Park
54. “We have all a better guide in ourselves if we would attend to it than any other person can be.” – Mansfield Park
55. “I hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies instead of rational creatures.” – Persuasion
56. “To love is to burn, to be on fire.” – Sense and Sensibility
57. “The more I know of the world, the more am I convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love.” – Sense and Sensibility
58. “Know your own happiness. You want nothing but patience – or give it a more fascinating name, call it hope.” – Sense and Sensibility
59. “It is not what we say or think that defines us, but what we do.” – Sense and Sensibility
60. “A lady’s imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.” – Pride and Prejudice
61. “I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.” – Pride and Prejudice
62. “There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well.” – Pride and Prejudice
63. “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.” – Pride and Prejudice
64. “Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance.” – Pride and Prejudice
65. “It is not what we eat, but what we digest that makes us strong; not what we gain, but what we save that makes us rich; not what we read, but what we remember that makes us learned; and not what we profess, but what we practice that gives us integrity.” – Pride and Prejudice
66. “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” – Pride and Prejudice
67. “I wish, as well as everybody else, to be perfectly happy; but, like everybody else, it must be in my own way.” – Sense and Sensibility
68. “If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.” – Emma
69. “A person who can write a long letter with ease, cannot write ill.” – Pride and Prejudice
70. “A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of.” – Mansfield Park
71. “I must learn to be content with being happier than I deserve.” – Pride and Prejudice
72. “I have not been used to submit to any person’s whims.” – Mansfield Park
73. “One cannot be always laughing at a man without now and then stumbling on something witty.” – Pride and Prejudice
74. “If I could but know his heart, everything would become easy.” – Emma
75. “I have been a selfish being all my life, in practice, though not in principle.” – Mansfield Park
76. “A woman, especially if she has the misfortune of knowing anything, should conceal it as well as she can.” – Northanger Abbey
77. “The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.” – Northanger Abbey
78. “Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love.” – Northanger Abbey
79. “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.” – Northanger Abbey
80. “A woman especially, if she has the misfortune of knowing anything, should conceal it as well as she can.” – Northanger Abbey
81. “Pictures of perfection, as you
82. “Pictures of perfection, as you know, make me sick and wicked.” – Northanger Abbey
83. “Selfishness must always be forgiven, you know, because there is no hope of a cure.” – Mansfield Park
84. “My idea of good company is the company of clever, well-informed people who have a great deal of conversation.” – Persuasion
85. “For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors and laugh at them in our turn?” – Pride and Prejudice
86. “I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.” – Pride and Prejudice
87. “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.” – Pride and Prejudice
88. “I cannot make speeches, Emma. If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.” – Emma
89. “One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other.” – Emma
90. “To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love.” – Pride and Prejudice
91. “If adventures will not befall a young lady in her own village, she must seek them abroad.” – Northanger Abbey
92. “I was quiet, but I was not blind.” – Persuasion
93. “There is safety in reserve, but no attraction. One cannot love a reserved person.” – Emma
94. “I may have lost my heart, but not my self-control.” – Emma
95. “There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart.” – Emma
96. “I hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies instead of rational creatures.” – Persuasion
97. “If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.” – Emma
98. “I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.” – Pride and Prejudice
99. “I cannot think well of a man who sports with any woman’s feelings.” – Mansfield Park
100. “If I were as rich as Mr. Darcy, I would do anything.” – Pride and Prejudice
These quotes offer a glimpse into Jane Austen’s insightful and captivating writing, showcasing her talent for exploring the complexities of relationships, society, and human nature.
