Quotes about louisa-may-alcott

We don't choose our talents but we needn't hide them in a napkin because they are not just what we want.

I can get on with wild beasts first-rate but men rile me awfully…

That was all I wanted!" whispered Polly, in a tone which caused him to feel that the race of angels was not entirely extinct.

I don't think secrets agree with me, I feel rumpled up in mind since you told me that…

Six weeks is a long time to wait, and a still longer time for a girl to keep a secret…

…in silence learned the sweet solace which affection administers to sorrow.

Don't try to make me grow up before my time…

I'm tired of praise; and love is very sweet, when it is simple and sincere like this.

Mothers can forgive anything! Tell me all, and be sure that I will never let you go, though the whole world should turn from you.

The clocks were striking midnight and the rooms were very still as a figure glided quietly from bed to bed, smoothing a coverlid here, settling a pillow there, and pausing to look long and tenderly at each unconscious face, to kiss each with lips that mutely blessed, and to pray the fervent prayers which only mothers utter.

Dan clung to her in speechless gratitude, feeling the blessedness of mother love, — that divine gift which comforts, purifies, and strengthens all who seek it.

And mother-like, Mrs. Jo forgot the threatened chastisement in tender lamentations over the happy scapegrace…

I am lonely, sometimes, but I dare say it's good for me…

Men are always ready to die for us, but not to make our lives worth having. Cheap sentiment and bad logic.

I do like men who come out frankly and own that they are not gods.

…a woman's always safe and comfortable when a fellow's down on his luck.

Prosperity suits some people, and they blossom best in a glow of sunshine; others need the shade, and are the sweeter for a touch of frost.

Boys don't gush, so I can stand it. The last time I let in a party of girls, one fell into my arms and said, "Darling, love me!" I wanted to shake her,' answered Mrs. Jo, wiping her pen with energy.

…because talent isn't genius, and no amount of energy can make it so. I want to be great, or nothing.

It takes people a long time to learn the difference between talent and genius, especially ambitious young men and women.

On, I don't think I'm a genius!' cried Josie, growing calm and sober as she listened to the melodious voice and looked into the expressive face that filled her with confidence, so strong, sincere and kindly was it. 'I only want to find out if I have talent enough to go on, and after years of study be able to act well in any of the good plays people never tire of seeing. I don't expected to be a Mrs. Siddons or a Miss Cameron, much as I long to be; but it does seem as if I had something in me whi

…possessed of that indescribable charm called grace.

…for action is always easier than quiet waiting.

Young people think they never can change, but they do in the most wonderful manner, and very few die of broken hearts.

…growing pale and sober with the thought that her fate was soon to be decided; for, like all young people, she was sure that her whole life could be settled by one human creature, quite forgetting how wonderfully Providence trains us by disappointment, surprises us with unexpected success, and turns our seeming trials into blessing.

She would make a man of me. She puts strength and courage into me as no one else can. She is unlike any girl I ever saw; there’s no sentimentality about her; she is wise, and kind, and sweet. She says what she means, looks you straight in the eye, and is as true as steel.

…what splendid dreams young people build upon a word, and how bitter is the pain when the bright bubbles burst.

I think she is growing up, and so begins to dream dreams, and have hopes and fears and fidgets, without knowing why or being able to explain them.

I thought of all the summer evenings I'd spent sitting in the chairs under the trees beside the trailer, reading books that helped me escape Creek View, at least for a little while. Magical kingdoms, Russian love triangles, and the March sisters couldn't have been further away from the trailer park.

…books are always good company if you have the right sort. Let me pick out some for you.' And Mrs. Jo made a bee-line to the well-laden shelves, which were the joy of her heart and the comfort of her life.

…having learned that people cannot be moulded like clay…

I wish I had no heart, it aches so…

…marriage, they say, halves one's rights and doubles one's duties.

…on some occasions, women, like dreams, go by contraries.

…proved that woman isn't a half but a whole human being, and can stand alone.

The emerging woman ... will be strong-minded, strong-hearted, strong-souled, and strong-bodied...strength and beauty must go together.

In her secret soul, however, she decided that politics were as bad as mathematics, and that the mission of politicians seemed to be calling each other names…

Go on with your work as usual, for work is a blessed solace.

…I'm always ready to talk, shouldn't be a woman if I were not,' laughed Mrs. Jo…

It is a merciful provision my dears, for it takes three or four women to get each man into, through, and out of the world. You are costly creatures, boys, and it is well that mothers, sisters, wives, and daughters love their duty and do it so well, or you would perish off the face of the earth,' said Mrs. Jo solemnly…

Amy's lecture did Laurie good, though, of course, he did not own it till long afterward. Men seldom do, for when women are the advisers, the lords of creation don't take the advice till they have persuaded themselves that it is just what they intended to do. Then they act upon it, and, if it succeeds, they give the weaker vessel half the credit of it. If it fails, they generously give her the whole.

I like good strong words that mean something…

…nothing remained but loneliness and grief…

I never wanted to go away, and the hard part now is the leaving you all. I'm not afraid, but it seems as if I should be homesick for you even in heaven.

life and love are very precious when both are in full bloom.

But, like all happiness, it did not last long…

Dear me! how happy and good we'd be, if we had no worries!

Well, I am happy, and I won't fret, but it does seem as if the more one gets the more one wants…

It's lovely to see people so happy.

…feeling as if all the happiness and support of their lives was about to be taken from them.

…wisely mingled poetry and prose.

I think this power of living in our children is one of the sweetest things in the world…

…no person, no matter how vivid an imagination he may have, can invent anything half so droll as the freaks and fancies that originate in the lively brains of little people.

It takes so little to make a child happy, that it is a pity in a world full of sunshine and pleasant things, that there should be any wistful faces, empty hands, or lonely little hearts.

…she rejoiced as only mothers can in the good fortunes of their children.