Best The Other Bennet Sister Quotes by Janice Hadlow

"It is a sad fact of life that if a young woman is unlucky enough to come into the world without expectations, she had better do all she can to ensure she is born beautiful."

"To be poor and handsome is misfortune enough; but to be penniless and plain is a hard fate indeed."

"Their beauty was to be envied a great deal less than their prospects."

"No family’s business is ever truly its own, and everyone knew that the outward prosperity of the Bennets rested on very uncertain foundations."

"If no Bennet son was produced, the estate would pass eventually into the hands of Mr Bennet’s cousin."

"Perhaps in the long hours he spent in his library, he wrestled with himself to find an answer to their plight."

"In the absence of ten thousand pounds in the hand, a pretty face was the single most valuable asset a young woman could possess."

"Mary could not remember exactly when she had discovered she was plain."

"So now she knew, she thought, as she walked upstairs. Now she understood. She was plain."

"I cannot believe anything worth having is to be achieved without effort and sacrifice."

"I am not romantic, you know. I have been coming to balls like this for ten years. And not once has anyone looked at me with the admiration Mr Bingley is now directing at Jane."

"Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance."

"If I were as rich as Mr Darcy, I should not care how proud I was!"

"It's plain to everyone that she likes him and enjoys his company. What else can she require? If it's love that she wants, well, she stands as good a chance of finding it with him as with anyone else."

"She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me."

"I honour your commitment to learning, but study clearly trumps all other considerations in your mind."

"The idea of the olive branch, perhaps, is not wholly new, yet I think it is well expressed."

"There is a mixture of servility and self-importance in his letter which promises very well."

"When not warmed up by feeling, reason is a very chilly, uncomfortable discipline by which to live your life."

"A great deal has changed since then, as even you must see."

"You sound exactly like Mr Collins! You were clearly meant for each other."

"He has 'withdrawn his pretensions to Lizzy’s favour,' he declared."

"I am so far from objecting to dancing myself that I shall hope to be honoured with the hands of all my fair cousins in the course of the evening."

"It is only through hard work that anything of value is to be achieved."

"If you really wish to help me, you would talk some sense into your friend over there."

"It is true nothing is so beneficial to young ladies as well-directed reading, though not all are disposed to appreciate its importance."

"I would be happy to play for you again, if you wish."

"Society has its claims upon us all, and I think some moments of recreation and amusement are desirable for everyone."

"Her steady manner was always beneficial when feelings ran high in the Bennet household."

"It was only when she was seated at the keyboard that it struck her that this must be the very instrument on which she had been playing when her father had so humiliatingly put an end to her performance at Mr Bingley’s ball."

"She would never be truly natural with him; she would never pay him the compliment of letting him know what she really thought or felt."

"Only a very superior understanding could rise to the challenge of such works."

"It was as if a great abyss had opened up before Mary, and in it, she saw nothing before her but loneliness."

"She was grateful for the invitation to stay; but somehow, she could not settle."

"It was true she had paid for her better prospects by marrying a man she did not love, but she did not seem to regret the bargain she had made."

"It is an excellent habit in a scholar which I hope will enable you to explain clearly to me what Aristotle has taught you about happiness."

"Only when we know ourselves – when we have examined and understood our strengths and weaknesses, when we have been honest enough to admit what we really desire from life – only then do we have any chance at all of attaining it."

"The more Mary read, the more her confidence grew."

"I think we both understand that cannot be a lasting solution."

"You are a rational being. You must see that if we are to go into society, it makes sense to obey at least some of its rules."

"I had not understood before quite how you occupied yourself there, but I see now what you have been doing."

"It is only then that one sees its true quality."

"Perhaps it may be to start a new life as a governess; perhaps not. But I urge you to find some way of beginning again."

"He would like to be better friends with me if I would permit it; and I think we shall both go on more happily if I do."

"We shall roam the warehouses together. It will be my pleasure."

"We women are barred, by custom and a thousand other petty considerations, from attempting such an undertaking alone."

"The difference was that the Gardiners worked hard at the business of happiness, exerting themselves tirelessly to coax it into being."

"Nothing was so inimical to happiness as the settled conviction it was not for her."

"The most important habit to conquer was the habit of misery itself."

"She could not remember when she had last felt so eager, awake, and ready for something new."

"The language of the law – which so many find dull and arid – is fascinating to me."

"But I am exceedingly happy for you. You have experienced a sensation I know I could not live without."

"You need not fear that you are, in any way, "dull of soul". That is not you at all."

"The comfortable situation he enjoys has not perhaps been the best friend to him."

"In a philosophical sense, the servants are always waiting to take away our insect collections and dispose of them who knows where. We may as well experience some joy before they arrive."

"It is possible, I have heard, to feel oneself alone, even in such close proximity to town."

"It is always easier to concentrate upon what pleases us. It requires very little discipline to turn our minds to what we know we enjoy."

"Life is too short, Miss Bennet, not to pursue those things which we know will please and fulfil us."

"We are often told that sensual pleasures do not last – but I saw for myself that is equally true for the products of hard work. Everything turns to dust in the end."

"I am determined not to waste my energy on anything that does not either move or please me; I won't crush my spirit by weighing it down with boredom and obligation."

"If there is no willingness to make an effort, there is usually little likelihood of success."

"We would all be happier if we were more honest with each other – I believe that most fervently and attempt to practise it whenever I can."

"You will never be a great beauty like Jane... but if you go on as you are, you may become quite passable."

"If you go on as you are, you may become quite passable."
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"Nature, it seems, far exceeds the power of my imagination in creating something so lovely."

"The first impression is of beauty. The colours, the light, the airiness."

"Our lives are so brief and yet we spend so much of them obeying rules we did not make."

"This landscape gives us a proper sense of perspective. It shows us our smallness in the great scheme of things."

"To me, it has but one message: do what you will and follow your heart, for we are all a very long time dead."

"True poetic talent, however, is a rare thing. I know I do not possess it."

"We have made good time this morning, and we’re not far from our destination now."

"It is just as I pictured it – but somehow more so."

"I am very glad that we were able to see it together."

"An impatience with the way things are ordered – particularly amongst men and women?"

"You weren’t made to live a dull, ordinary, little life."

"I catch a glimpse of it every now and then in your expression."

"I am tired of trying to make sense of things."

"I should very much hope not. I’m tired of my old character, and am resolved to try on a new one."

"I cannot tell you how pleased I am to see you unhurt."

"A single young woman cannot have a man as a friend."

"You must have a great deal of time to call your own."

"It is long time since I have met with anyone quite so charming!"

"The absence of love was in itself enough to make marriage to Mr Ryder impossible."

"What she sought was a union of equals, a coming together of like minds and sympathetic intellects."

"He had married a woman he could never think of as his equal."

"Let me not have the grief of seeing you unable to respect your partner in life."

"I listened to what you said with the greatest attention, but I am persuaded I have done the right thing."

"You have thrown away your last and best chance of a comfortable settlement."

"I see you for what you are – a bitter, angry spirit, so eaten up with unhappiness that you can do nothing but make others as miserable as yourself."

"I love you, Mr Hayward. He is the only man whom I think would ever make me happy."

"Perhaps the life of a single woman need not be as miserable and as humiliating as was universally insisted upon."

"I have learned it is not enough simply to experience feeling. You showed me that one must find the courage to act upon it."