Jane Austen Quote of the Day

Happiness

"Darcy was not of a disposition in which happiness overflows in mirth; and Elizabeth, agitated and confused, rather knew that she was happy, than felt herself to be so . . ."

on Darcy & Elizabeth's state of mind immediately following their engagement
Pride & Prejudice, Volume 3, Chapter 17

Christian forgiveness, a la Mr. Collins

"'You ought certainly to forgive them as a Christian, but never to admit them in your sight, or allow their names to be mentioned in your hearing.' That is his notion of Christian forgiveness!"

Mr. Bennet, reading a letter from Mr. Collins on the scandal of Lydia and Wickham, who were finally forced to marry
Pride & Prejudice, Volume 3, Chapter 15

Marry? Mr. Collins?

"Mr. Collins to be sure was neither sensible nor agreeable; his society was irksome, and his attachment to her must be imaginary.  But still he would be her husband.  Without thinking highly either of men or of matrimony, marriage had always been her object; it was the only honourable provision for well-educated young women of small fortune, and however uncertain of giving happiness, must be their pleasantest preservative from want.  This preservative she had now obtained; and at the age of twenty-seven, without having ever been handsome, she felt all the good luck of it."

on Charlotte Lucas's marrying Mr. Collins
Pride & Prejudice, Volume 1, Chapter 22

Happy birthday, dear Jane

Normally I will not be posting on Saturdays, but as it is the anniversary of Jane's birthday, I wanted to share these lines from Rudyard Kipling:

Jane lies in Winchester--
Blessed be her shade!
Praise the Lord for making her,
And her for all she made!

And while the stones of Winchester,
Or Milsom Street, remain,
Glory, love, and honour
Unto England's Jane!

Jane is buried in Winchester, of course, and Milsom Street was (and still is) one of the fashionable shopping streets in Bath. Anne, Elizabeth, and Mrs. Clay in Persuasion are in Milsom Street when they duck into Molland's to escape the rain and Anne spots Captain Wentworth for the first time since the tragedy at Lyme.

Like Jane, I found the fashionable Bath shops too expensive for more than window shopping. (Although I did find a fantastic bead store that helped me make a necklace with a cross I bought at Alton Abbey. It's called Bijoux Beads on 2 Abbey Street just a stone's throw from the Roman Baths. I highly recommend it!)

The picture is St. Nicholas church in Steventon, where Jane's father was rector.

The importance of fashion

"I rather expect to receive an offer from my friend in the course of the evening.  I shall refuse him, however, unless he promises to give away his white Coat."

Jane writing to Cassandra re: a ball the following evening, joking about expecting an offer from Tom Lefroy

January 14, 1796 [2]

Oh, my!

" . . . I am almost afraid to tell you how my Irish friend and I behaved.  Imagine to yourself everything most profligate and shocking in the way of dancing and sitting down together."

Jane to her sister Cassandra, in a letter of January 9, 1796 [1], re: flirting with Tom Lefroy at the ball the night before

Of course, we have to start here...

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

Pride & Prejudice, Volume 1, Chapter 1

About this blog

I was inspired to create this blog several months ago, when Mags at AustenBlog posted a quote du jour.  What a fabulous idea, I thought.  And, I thought, there must be one out there in the web world.  But I couldn't find one. 

Immersed in Austen research for my upcoming book (A Walk with Jane), I thought maybe I could go ahead and start one.  So, here it is!

It's hard for me to read Austen and not want to share her voice with others--her life and great energy, her laughter--especially in her letters, which I think few of her fans have probably read.

I also wanted to put her quotes back in context.  So many times, when I see them, there is no notation of where they appeared, if they were her own voice or one of her characters, or exactly what the situation was.  So, when you read them, I want you to know where they came from.

And regarding that laughter of hers, it is always safest to assume that Jane is joking, if there's any question.  Without understanding that, you may be wrongly offended by some of these, or come to erroneous conclusions about what she actually believed.

In each quote, I've noted the volume and chapter in which the quote appears (some modern versions of the novels leave the volumes out and number the chapters sequentially; you'll need an edition with the volumes marked if you want to look these up in context).  Or, in the case of Jane's letters, I've noted the letter number from Dierdre Le Faye's collection.

Feel free to email me your suggestions at austenquotes AT gmail DOT com.

cheers!  enjoy!