Louisa May Alcott - An Old-Fashioned Girl (1869)

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People don't have fortunes left them in that style nowadays; men have to work and women to marry for money. It's a dreadfully unjust world.

Louisa May Alcott
For with eyes made clear by many tears, and a heart softened by the tenderest sorrow, she recognized the beauty of her sister's life—uneventful, unambitious, yet full of the genuine virtues which 'smell sweet, and blossom in the dust', the self-forgetfulness that makes the humblest on earth remembered soonest in heaven, the true success which is possible to all.

Louisa May Alcott
Because they are mean is no reason why I should be. I hate such things, and though I think I've a right to be hurt, I don't intend to show it. (Amy March)

Louisa May Alcott
I'm afraid I couldn't like him without a spice of human naughtiness.

Louisa May Alcott
Love scenes, if genuine, are indescribable; for to those who have enacted them the most elaborate description seems tame, and to those who have not, the simplest picture seems overdone.

Louisa May Alcott
Women have been called queens for a long time, but the kingdom given them isn't worth ruling.

Louisa May Alcott
I shall keep my book on the table here, and read a little every morning as soon as I wake, for I know it will do me good, and help me through the day.

Louisa May Alcott
She began to see that character is a better possession than money, rank, intellect, or beauty, and to feel that if greatness is what a wise man has defined it to be, 'truth, reverence, and good will,' then her friend Friedrich Bhaer was not only good, but great.

Louisa May Alcott
The first small sacrifice of this sort leads the way to others, and a single hand's turn given heartily to the world's great work helps one amazingly with one's own small tasks.

Louisa May Alcott
Rome took all the vanity out of me; for after seeing the wonders there, I felt too insignificant to live, and gave up all my foolish hopes in despair.

Louisa May Alcott
A kiss for a blow is always best, though it's not very easy to give it sometimes.

Louisa May Alcott
The girls gave their hearts into their mother's keeping-their souls into their father's; and to both parents, who lived and labored so faithfully for them, they gave a love that grew with their growth, and bound them tenderly together by the sweetest tie which blesses life and outlives death.

Louisa May Alcott
They were enjoying the happy hour that seldom comes but once in any life, the magical moment which bestows youth on the old, beauty on the plain, wealth on the poor, and gives human hearts a foretaste of heaven.

Louisa May Alcott
Marriage, they say, halves one's rights and doubles one's duties.

Louisa May Alcott
He was poor, yet always appeared to be giving something away; a stranger, yet everyone was his friend; no longer young, but as happy-hearted as a boy; plain and peculiar, yet his face looked beautiful to many.

Louisa May Alcott
Hither, hither, from thy home, airy sprite, i bid thee come! born of roses, fed on dew, charms and potions canst thow brew? bring me here, with elfin speed, the fragment philter witch i need; make it sweet and swift and stong, spirite amserw now my song hither i come, from my airy home, afar silver moon. take magic spell, and use it well. or its powers will vanish soon!

Louisa May Alcott
Persuasive influences are better than any amount of moralizing.

Louisa May Alcott
You are the gull, Jo, strong and wild, fond of the storm and the wind, flying far out to sea, and happy all alone.

Louisa May Alcott
Wouldn't it be fun if all the castles in the air which we make could come true and we could live in them?

Louisa May Alcott
If I didn't care about doing right and didn't feel uncomfortable doing wrong, I should get on capitally.

Louisa May Alcott
To be strong, and beautiful, and go round making music all the time. Yes, she could do that, and with a very earnest prayer Polly asked for the strength of an upright soul, the beauty of a tender heart, the power to make her life a sweet and stirring song, helpful while it lasted, remembered when it died.

Louisa May Alcott
When we make little sacrifices we like to have them appreciated, at least…

Louisa May Alcott
Simple, sincere people seldom speak much of their piety; it shows itself in acts rather than words, and has more influence than homilies or protestations.

Louisa May Alcott
She fell into the moody, miserable state of mind which often comes when strong wills have to yield to the inevitable.

Louisa May Alcott
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.

Louisa May Alcott
Head, you may think; heart, you may feel;
But hand, you shall work alway!

Louisa May Alcott
Laurie, you're an angel! How shall I ever thank you?" "Fly at me again. I rather liked it," said Laurie, looking mischievous, a thing he had not done for a fortnight.

Louisa May Alcott
I don't pretend to be wise, but I am observing, and I see a great deal more than you'd imagine. I'm interested in other people's experiences and inconsistencies, and, though I can't explain, I remember and use them for my own benefit.

Louisa May Alcott
But, Polly, a principle that can't bear being laughed at, frowned on, and cold-shouldered, isn't worthy of the name.

Louisa May Alcott
Laurie felt just then that his heart was entirely broken and the world a howling wilderness.

Louisa May Alcott