Louisa May Alcott - Little Women (1868)

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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.

Louisa May Alcott
For no matter how lost and soiled and worn-out wandering sons may be, mothers can forgive and forget every thing as they fold them into their fostering arms. Happy the son whose faith in his mother remains unchanged, and who, through all his wanderings, has kept some filial token to repay her brave and tender love.

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
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
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
I may be strong-minded, but no one can say I'm out of my sphere now, for woman's special mission is supposed to be drying tears and bearing burdens

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
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
For the wise old man was universally beloved, and ministered so beautifully to his flock that many of them thanked him all their lives for the help given to both hearts and souls.

Louisa May Alcott
There was a good deal of laughing and kissing and explaining, in the simple, loving fashion which makes these home-festivals so pleasant at the time, so sweet to remember long afterward, and then all fell to work.

Louisa May Alcott
Entrenching himself behind an undeniable fact.

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

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
Fame is a very good thing to have in the house, but cash is more convenient.

Louisa May Alcott
There are many Beths in the world, shy and quiet, sitting in corners till needed, and living for others so cheerfully that no one sees the sacrifices till the little cricket on the hearth stops chirping, and the sweet, sunshiny presence vanishes, leaving silence and shadow behind.

Louisa May Alcott
Have regular hours for work and play, make each day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well. Then youth will be delightful, old age will bring few regrets, and life become a beautiful success, in spite of poverty.

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 invigorating air did them both good, and much exercise worked wholesome changes in minds as well as bodies. They seemed to get clearer views of life and duty up there among the everlasting hills. The fresh winds blew away desponding doubts, delusive fancies, and moody mists. The warm spring sunshine brought out all sorts of aspiring ideas, tender hopes, and happy thoughts. The lake seemed to wash away the troubles of the past, and the grand old mountains to look benignly down upon them saying, "Little children, love one another."

Louisa May Alcott
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.

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
So she enjoyed herself heartily, and found, what isn't always the case, that her granted wish was all she had hoped.

Louisa May Alcott
Some books are so familiar that reading them is like being home again.

Louisa May Alcott
And Jo laid the rustling sheets together with a careful hand, as one might shut the covers of a lovely romance, which holds the reader fast till the end comes, and he finds himself alone in the work-a-day world again.

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
November is the most disagreeable month in the whole year.

Louisa May Alcott
I like good strong words that mean something.

Louisa May Alcott
I am angry nearly every day of my life…but I have learned not to show it; and I still hope to learn not to feel it, though it may take me another forty years to do so.
Mrs March to her daughter Jo

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
Jo loved a few persons very dearly and dreaded to have their affection lost or lessened in any way.

Louisa May Alcott
And clung more closely to the dear human love, from which our Father never means us to be weaned, but through which He draws us closer to Himself.

Louisa May Alcott