14 verified quotes from 6 works, 1811 to 1817.
Jane Austen (1775–1817) published four novels in her lifetime, starting with Sense and Sensibility (1811) and Pride and Prejudice (1813), all of them anonymously; Northanger Abbey and Persuasion came out together a few months after her death, dated 1818 on the title page but on sale in December 1817.
Most of her lines below belong to characters, whom we name, because Austen’s wit usually arrives in dialogue. Each quote was found word for word in the Project Gutenberg edition we link, with a short note of ours on the scene.
What “verified” means, and what we leave out: How we verify.
It is not time or opportunity that is to determine intimacy;—it is disposition alone.
Our note: Marianne defends her quick friendship with Willoughby.
Verified in the full text of Sense and Sensibility on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #161
Painted the same decade: Charles Maurice de Talleyrand Périgord (1754–1838), Prince de Talleyrand, Pierre Paul Prud'hon, 1817
Know your own happiness. You want nothing but patience—or give it a more fascinating name, call it hope.
Our note: Mrs. Dashwood encourages the gloomy Edward Ferrars.
Verified in the full text of Sense and Sensibility on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #161
Painted the same decade: Evening: Landscape with an Aqueduct, Théodore Géricault, 1818
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.
Our note: The novel's famous first sentence, which is gently ironic.
Verified in the full text of Pride and Prejudice on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #1342
Painted the same decade: The Public Viewing David's "Coronation" at the Louvre, Louis Léopold Boilly, 1810
I declare, after all, there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book!
Our note: Said by Caroline Bingley, who is only pretending to read to impress Mr. Darcy.
Verified in the full text of Pride and Prejudice on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #1342
Painted the same decade: Waterfall at Mont-Dore, Achille-Etna Michallon, 1818
There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises with every attempt to intimidate me.
Our note: Elizabeth teases Mr. Darcy while he listens to her play the piano.
Verified in the full text of Pride and Prejudice on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #1342
Painted the same decade: Evening: Landscape with an Aqueduct, Théodore Géricault, 1818
Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure.
Our note: Elizabeth to Mr. Darcy near the end of the novel.
Verified in the full text of Pride and Prejudice on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #1342
Painted the same decade: Evening: Landscape with an Aqueduct, Théodore Géricault, 1818
Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain.
Our note: Elizabeth's bookish sister Mary offers a moral lesson.
Verified in the full text of Pride and Prejudice on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #1342
Painted the same decade: General Étienne-Maurice Gérard (1773–1852), Jacques Louis David, 1816
I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.
Our note: Elizabeth on Mr. Darcy after he snubs her at the first ball.
Verified in the full text of Pride and Prejudice on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #1342
Painted the same decade: Charles Maurice de Talleyrand Périgord (1754–1838), Prince de Talleyrand, Pierre Paul Prud'hon, 1817
I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.
Our note: Darcy answers when Elizabeth asks when he first fell in love with her.
Verified in the full text of Pride and Prejudice on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #1342
Painted the same decade: Waterfall at Mont-Dore, Achille-Etna Michallon, 1818
We have all a better guide in ourselves, if we would attend to it, than any other person can be.
Our note: Fanny to Henry Crawford, who has asked her to guide his conduct.
Verified in the full text of Mansfield Park on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #141
Painted the same decade: Charles Maurice de Talleyrand Périgord (1754–1838), Prince de Talleyrand, Pierre Paul Prud'hon, 1817
One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other.
Our note: On how differently people enjoy themselves.
Verified in the full text of Emma on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #158
Painted the same decade: Waterfall at Mont-Dore, Achille-Etna Michallon, 1818
The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.
Our note: Henry Tilney teases Catherine Morland, who fears he looks down on novels.
Verified in the full text of Northanger Abbey on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #121
Painted the same decade: General Étienne-Maurice Gérard (1773–1852), Jacques Louis David, 1816
You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope.
Our note: From the letter Captain Wentworth writes to Anne Elliot near the end of the novel.
Verified in the full text of Persuasion on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #105
Painted the same decade: The Public Viewing David's "Coronation" at the Louvre, Louis Léopold Boilly, 1810
My idea of good company, Mr Elliot, is the company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company.
Our note: Anne Elliot to her cousin, William Elliot.
Verified in the full text of Persuasion on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #105
Painted the same decade: General Étienne-Maurice Gérard (1773–1852), Jacques Louis David, 1816
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