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

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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
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
A real gentleman is as polite to a little girl as to a woman.

Louisa May Alcott
You are like a chestnut burr, prickly outside, but silky-soft within, and a sweet kernel, if one can only get at it. Love will make you show your heart some day, and then the rough burr will fall off.

Louisa May Alcott
We can't any of us do all we would like, but we can do our best for every case that comes to us, and that helps amazingly.

Louisa May Alcott
If we are all alive ten years hence, let's meet, and see how many of us have got our wishes, or how much nearer we are then than now.

Louisa May Alcott
Because talent isn't genius, and no amount of energy can make it so. I want to be great, or nothing.

Louisa May Alcott
Go out more, keep cheerful as well as busy, for you are the sunshine-maker of the family, and if you get dismal there is no fair weather.

Louisa May Alcott
The love, respect, and confidence of my children was the sweetest reward I could receive for my efforts to be the woman I would have them copy.

Louisa May Alcott
Don't cry so bitterly, but remember this day, and resolve with all your soul that you will never know another like it.

Louisa May Alcott
I'm perfectly miserable; but if you consider me presentable, I die happy.

Louisa May Alcott
Jo's breath gave out here, and wrapping her head in the paper, she bedewed her little story with a few natural tears, for to be independent and earn the praise of those she loved were the dearest wishes of her heart, and this seemed to be the first step toward that happy end.

Louisa May Alcott
Beth could not reason upon or explain the faith that gave her courage and patience to give up life, and cheerfully wait for death. Like a confiding child, she asked no questions, but left everything to God and nature, Father and Mother of us all, feeling sure that they, and they only, could teach and strengthen heart and spirit for this life and the life to come.

Louisa May Alcott
Some people seemed to get all sunshine, and some all shadow…

Louisa May Alcott
I'm not like the rest of you; I never made any plans about what I'd do when I grew up; I never thought of being married, as you did. I couldn't seem to imagine myself anything but stupid little Beth, trotting about at home, of no use anywhere but there. I never wanted to go away, and the hard part now is leaving you all. I'm not afraid, but it seems as if I should be homesick for you even in heaven.

Louisa May Alcott
I want to do something splendid… Something heroic or wonderful that won't be forgotten after I'm dead… I think I shall write books.

Louisa May Alcott
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.

Louisa May Alcott
Every few weeks she would shut herself up in her room, put on her scribbling suit, and fall into a vortex, as she expressed it, writing away at her novel with all her heart and soul, for till that was finished she could find no peace.

Louisa May Alcott
She preferred imaginary heroes to real ones, because when tired of them, the former could be shut up in the tin kitchen till called for, and the latter were less manageable.

Louisa May Alcott
Politics were as bad as mathematics, and that the mission of politicians seemed to be calling each other names

Louisa May Alcott
At twenty-five, girls begin to talk about being old maids, but secretly resolve that they never will. At thirty, they say nothing about it, but quietly accept the fact.

Louisa May Alcott
Jo had learned that hearts, like flowers, cannot be rudely handled, but must open naturally…

Louisa May Alcott
She'll go and fall in love, and there's an end of peace and fun, and cozy times together.

Louisa May Alcott
You say often you wish a library; here I gif you one; for between these two lids (he meant covers) is many books in one. Read him well, and he will help you much; for the study of character in this book will help you to read it in the world, and paint it with your pen.

Louisa May Alcott
Often between ourselves and those nearest and dearest to us there exists a reserve which it is very hard to overcome.

Louisa May Alcott
The child has talent, loves music, and needs help. I can't give her money, but I can teach her; so I do, and she is the most promising pupil I have. Help one another, is part of the religion of our sisterhood, Fan.

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

Louisa May Alcott
Meg learned to love her husband better for his poverty, because it seem to have made a man of him, giving him the strength and courage to fight his own way, and taught him a tender patience with which to bear and comfort the natural longings and failures of those he loved.

Louisa May Alcott