The Wit and Wisdom of Jane Austen on Her Birthday

On this day (Dec. 16) in 1775, Jane Austen was born. She would go on to become one of the most influential and famous English novelists, with her characters and stories still considered standards for fiction and romance to this day.

Below are some of the clever and entertaining quotes from the great Jane Austen:

“If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.” - Mr. Knightley from Austen’s Emma

“I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal.” -From Austen’s letters

“It was the peculiar misfortune of this Woman [Queen Elizabeth I] to have bad Ministers — Since wicked as she herself was, she could not have committed such extensive mischief, had not these vile and abandoned Men connived at, and encouraged her in her Crimes.” -From “History of England”

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” - Opening of Pride and Prejudice

“I will not say that your mulberry trees are dead; but I am afraid they're not alive.” -From Austen’s letters

“[But] for my own part, if a book is well written, I always find it too short.” -Jane Austen

“I may have lost my heart, but not my self-control.” -Emma Woodhouse in Austen’s Emma

“For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn?” -Mr. Bennet in Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

“My courage always rises with every attempt to intimidate me.” -Elizabeth Bennet in Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

“I always deserve the best treatment because I never put up with any other.” -Emma Woodhouse in Austen’s Emma

“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.” -Mr. Bennet in Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

“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."

"Perhaps I shall. Yes, yes, if you please, no reference to examples in books. Men have had every advantage of us in telling their own story. Education has been theirs in so much higher a degree; the pen has been in their hands. I will not allow books to prove anything.” -Capt. Harville and Anne Elliot in Austen’s Persuasion

“Nothing ever fatigues me, but doing what I do not like.” -Ms. Crawford from Austen’s Mansfield Park

“A lady’s imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.” -Mr. Darcy from Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

“There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart.” -Emma Woodhouse in Austen’s Emma

“Elinor agreed to it all, for she did not think he deserved the compliment of rational opposition.” -From Austen’s Sense and Sensibility

It’s a great evening to curl up with an Austen novel and enjoy the ever-fresh wit of Jane Austen!