65+ Most Memorable Jane Austen Quotes To Live By

Last Updated on December 15, 2022

Jane Austen was a famous English novelist known for her wit, social commentary, and mastery of the English language.

She is often celebrated for her sharp observations on the society of her time, as well as her ability to create complex and relatable characters. Though she lived over 200 years ago, her words continue to resonate with readers today.

Here are a few of the most memorable quotes by Jane Austen on life, love, nature, books and more.

Who Is Jane Austen?

Jane Austen was born in the village of Steventon, England in 1775. She was the seventh of eight children and grew up in a close-knit family. She began writing at a young age, and her first novel, “Sense and Sensibility,” was published in 1811. This was followed by “Pride and Prejudice,” “Mansfield Park,” “Emma,” and “Persuasion,” among others.

Austen’s novels are known for their realism and social commentary. She often wrote about the lives of the English gentry, and her characters are known for their complex personalities and relationships.

Despite the constraints of the time in which she lived, Austen’s writing is considered ahead of its time, and she is often credited with helping to pave the way for the modern novel.

In addition to her novels, Austen was also a prolific writer of letters.

Her letters offer insight into her life and thoughts, and provide a glimpse into the world in which she lived. She passed away at the age of 41 in 1817, but her work continues to be widely read and celebrated.

Jane Austen Quotes On Life, Love, Books Women And More

1. “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” – Jane Austen

2. “The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.” – Jane Austen

3. “Life seems but a quick succession of busy nothings.” – Jane Austen

4. “An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do.” – Jane Austen

5. “A ladys imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.” – Jane Austen

6. “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.” – Jane Austen

7. “A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of.” – Jane Austen

8. “Is not general incivility the very essence of love?” – Jane Austen

9. “Nothing ever fatigues me, but doing what I do not like.” – Jane Austen

10. “You must learn some of my philosophy. Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure.” – Jane Austen

11. “Those who do not complain are never pitied.” – Jane Austen

12. “One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other.” – Jane Austen

13. “How quick come the reasons for approving what we like!” – Jane Austen

14. “There are people, who the more you do for them, the less they will do for themselves.” – Jane Austen

15. “For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours and laugh at them in our turn?”

16. “To flatter and follow others, without being flattered and followed in turn, is but a state of half enjoyment.” – Jane Austen

17. “I hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies instead of rational creatures. None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives.” – Jane Austen

18. “It isn’t what we say or think that defines us, but what we do.” – Jane Austen

19. “Laugh as much as you choose, but you will not laugh me out of my opinion.” – Jane Austen

20. “A woman, especially, if she have the misfortune of knowing anything, should conceal it as well as she can.” – Jane Austen

21. “Indulge your imagination in every possible flight.” – Jane Austen

22. “Selfishness must always be forgiven you know, because there is no hope of a cure.” – Jane Austen

23. “There are certainly not so many men of large fortune in the world, as there are pretty women to deserve them.” – Jane Austen

24. “I always deserve the best treatment because I never put up with any other.” – Jane Austen

25. “My sore throats are always worse than anyones.” – Jane Austen

26. “Next to being married, a girl likes to be crossed in love a little now and then. It is something to think of.” – Jane Austen

27. “Vanity working on a weak head, produces every sort of mischief.” – Jane Austen

28. “Nobody minds having what is too good for them.” – Jane Austen

29. “We have all a better guide in ourselves, if we would attend to it, than any other person can be.” – Jane Austen

30. “Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance.” – Jane Austen

31. “Surprises are foolish things. The pleasure is not enhanced, and the inconvenience is often considerable.” – Jane Austen

32. “To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love.” – Jane Austen

33. “One cannot have too large a party.” – Jane Austen

34. “It is always incomprehensible to a man that a woman should ever refuse an offer of marriage.” – Jane Austen

35. “There are as many forms of love as there are moments in time.” – Jane Austen

36. “One cannot be always laughing at a man without now and then stumbling on something witty.” – Jane Austen

37. “Let me know when you begin the new tea, and the new white wine. My present elegances have not yet made me indifferent to such matters. I am still a cat if I see a mouse.” – Jane Austen

38. “We are to have a tiny party here tonight. I hate tiny parties, they force one into constant exertion.” – Jane Austen

39. “There is safety in reserve, but no attraction. One cannot love a reserved person.” – Jane Austen

40. “Nothing ever fatigues me but doing what I do not like.” – Jane Austen

41. “For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn?” – Jane Austen

42. “Without music, life would be a blank to me.” – Jane Austen

43. “Time will explain.” – Jane Austen

44. “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.” – Jane Austen

45. “It is very difficult for the prosperous to be humble.” – Jane Austen

46. “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.” – Jane Austen

47. “Give him a book, and he will read all day long.” – Jane Austen

48. “Angry people are not always wise.” – Jane Austen

49. “But people themselves alter so much, that there is something new to be observed in them forever.” – Jane Austen

50. “Do anything rather than marry without affection.” – Jane Austen

51. “What are young men to rocks and mountains?” – Jane Austen

52. “She was convinced that she could have been happy with him, when it was no longer likely they should meet.” – Jane Austen

53. “Till this moment I never knew myself.” – Jane Austen

54. “My good opinion once lost, is lost forever.” – Jane Austen

55. “Give a girl an education and introduce her properly into the world, and ten to one she has the means of settling well, without further expense to anybody.” – Jane Austen

56. “I have not the pleasure of understanding you.” – Jane Austen

57. “Marriage is indeed a manoeuvring business.” – Jane Austen

58. “They are much to be pitied who have not been given a taste for nature early in life.” – Jane Austen

59. “One man’s style must not be the rule of anothers.” – Jane Austen

60. “It’s been many years since I had such an exemplary vegetable.” – Jane Austen

61. “Dress is at all times a frivolous distinction, and excessive solicitude about it often destroys its own aim.” – Jane Austen

62. “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.” – Jane Austen

63. “The more I know of the world, the more I am convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love.” – Jane Austen

64. “We do not look in our great cities for our best morality.” – Jane Austen

65. “Woman is fine for her own satisfaction alone. No man will admire her the more, no woman will like her the better for it. Neatness and fashion are enough for the former, and a something of shabbiness or impropriety will be most endearing to the latter.” – Jane Austen

Bonus Jane Austen Quotes

“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.”

“Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love.”

“Ah! There is nothing like staying at home, for real comfort.”

“If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.”

“Her own thoughts and reflections were habitually her best companions.”

“There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart.”

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