What would Jane Austen say?

Hello, friends! I hope everyone is staying healthy and safe during this difficult time.

With everything going on in the world, I felt the need to share something uplifting this month, and when it comes to raising spirits, who better to turn to than the queen of wit and wisdom herself: Jane Austen. 🙂 So, without further ado, please enjoy some inspirational musings from our favorite author.

One cannot be always laughing at a man without now and then stumbling on something witty.  —Pride and Prejudice

The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid. — Northanger Abbey

A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of. — Mansfield Park

What is right to be done cannot be done too soon. — Emma

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

Nobody minds having what is too good for them. — Mansfield Park

It isn’t what we say or think that defines us, but what we do. — Sense and Sensibility

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

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

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

I am not at all in a humor for writing; I must write on till I am. —Letter to Cassandra Austen, October 26, 1813

There are people, who the more you do for them, the less they will do for themselves. — Emma

Nothing ever fatigues me but doing what I do not like. — Mansfield Park

It is particularly incumbent on those who never change their opinion, to be secure of judging properly at first.  —Pride and Prejudice

From politics, it was an easy step to silence.  — Northanger Abbey

I do not think I ever opened a book in my life which had not something to say upon woman’s inconstancy. Songs and proverbs, all talk of woman’s fickleness. But perhaps you will say, these were all written by men.  —Persuasion

Angry people are not always wise. — Pride and Prejudice

If adventures will not befall a young lady in her own village, she must seek them abroad.  — Northanger Abbey

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

When pain is over, the remembrance of it often becomes a pleasure.  —Persuasion

I am sorry to tell you that I am getting very extravagant, and spending all my money, and, what is worse for you, I have been spending yours too. — Letter to Cassandra Austen, April 18, 1811

If things are going untowardly one month, they are sure to mend the next. — Emma

No, I must keep to my own style and go on in my own way; and though I may never succeed again in that, I am convinced that I should totally fail in any other. — Letter to Mr. Clarke, April 1, 1816

Time will explain. — Persuasion

And last, but certainly not least:

There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort. — Emma

Thanks for reading! So, which one of these is your favorite? Let us know! Or, feel free to share any other inspirational quotes in the comments.

Until next time: Stay healthy, stay safe, and keep reading.

JA