Jane Austen Quotes

Blameless

"While Lady Elliot lived, there had been method, moderation, and economy, which had just kept him within his income; but with her had died all such right-mindedness, and from that period he had been constantly exceediing it.  It had not been possible for him to spend less: he had done nothing but what Sir Walter Elliot was imperiously called on to do; but blameless as he was, he was not only growing dreadfully in debt, but was hearing of it so often, that it became vain to attempt concealing it longer."

Persuasion, volume 1, chapter 1

Prosperity and nothingness

"Such were Elizabeth Elliot's sentiments and sensations; such the cares to alloy, the agitations to vary, the sameness and the elegance, the prosperity and the nothingness of her scene of life. . ."

Persuasion, volume 1, chapter 1

I love that phrase--"the prosperity and the nothingness."

Years of danger

"She had the consciousness of being nine-and-twenty to give her some regrets and some apprehensions; she was fully satisfied of being still quite as handsome as ever, but she felt her approach to the years of danger, and would have rejoiced to be certain of being properly solicited by baronet-blood within the next twelvemonth or two."

Of Elizabeth Elliot
Persuasion, volume 1, chapter 1

Only Anne

"His two other children were of very inferior value. . . . Anne, with an elegance of mind and sweetness of character, which must have placed her high with any people of real understanding, was nobody with either father or sister; her word had no weight, her convenience was always to give way -- she was only Anne."

Persuasion, volume 1, chapter 1

Vanity, thy name is Sir Walter

"Vanity was the beginning and end of Sir Walter Elliot's character: vanity of person and of situation. He had been remarkably handsome in his youth, and at fifty-four was still a very fine man. . . . He considered the blessing of beauty as inferior only to the blessing of a baronetcy; and the Sir Walter Elliot, who united these gifts, was the constant object of his warmest respect and devotion."

Persuasion, volume 1, chapter 1

Thanks to Kellynch.com for the image -- check out this lovely site!

Who can be in doubt?

Ack... spent this morning at the doctor's office, and running very late today.  One more from Persuasion:

"Who can be in doubt of what followed?  When any two young people take it into their heads to marry, they are pretty sure by perseverance to carry their point, be they ever so poor, or ever so imprudent, or ever so little likely to be necessary to each other's ultimate comfort.  This may be bad morality to conclude with, but I believe it to be truth; and if such parties succeed, how should a Captain Wentworth and an Anne Elliot, with the advantage of maturity of mind, consciousness of right, and one independent fortune between them, fail of bearing down every opposition?"

Persuasion, volume 2, chapter 12

Learning to brook being happier than I deserve

Can't resist posting one more from Persuasion today:

"'It is a sort of pain, too, which is new to me.  I have been used to the gratification of believing myself to earn every blessing that I enjoyed.  I have valued myself on honourable toils and just rewards.  Like other great men under reverses,' he added with a smile, 'I must endeavor to subdue my mind to my fortune.  I must learn to brook being happier than I deserve.'"

Captain Wentworth, during the card party at the Elliots, after he learns that Anne would have accepted him had he come back to her much sooner
Persuasion, volume 2, chapter 11

I love the hint of grace here.

The gravel walk

"There they exchanged again those feelings and those promises which had once before seemed to secure everything, but which had been followed by so many, many years of division and estrangement.  There they returned again into the past, more exquisitely happy, perhaps, in their re-union, than when it had been first projected; more tender, more tried, more fixed in a knowledge of each other's character, truth, and attachment; more equal to act, more justified in acting."

Of Anne and Captain Wentworth's engagement along the gravel walk in Bath.
Persuasion, volume 2, chapter 11

I believe I walked along this gravel path in Bath, but didn't realize what it was while I walked there.

An overpowering happiness

"Such a letter was not to be soon recovered from. . . . Every moment rather brought fresh agitation.  It was an overpowering happiness."

Persuasion, volume 2, chapter 11

Too excellent creature!

"I can hardly write.  I am every instant hearing something which overpowers me.  You sink your voice, but I can distinguish the tones of that voice when they would be lost on others.  Too good, too excellent creature!  You do us justice, indeed.  You do believe that there is true attachment and constancy among men.  Believe it to be most fervent, most undeviating, in    F.W."

Captain Wentworth's letter to Anne, in the Musgrove's room at the White Hart in Bath
Persuasion, volume 2, chapter 11