With a pen that was both sharp and tender, Jane Austen listened closely to the life around her. Her words still nourish what is strong in us, inviting courage, clear seeing, and a gentle laugh at our own human quirks. Here are some of her lines to savor slowly, like a favorite book returned to the shelf and opened again. 📚

“Business, you know, may bring money, but friendship hardly ever does.”

“Everything nourishes what is strong already.”

“For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn?”

“Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love.”

“Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance.”

“I cannot speak well enough to be unintelligible.”

“In nine cases out of ten, a woman had better show more affection than she feels.”

“It is very difficult for the prosperous to be humble.”

“Nobody minds having what is too good for them.”

“One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other.”

“Respect for right conduct is felt by everybody.”

“Selfishness must always be forgiven you know, because there is no hope of a cure.”

“There are secrets in all families.”

“There are people, who the more you do for them, the less they will do for themselves.”

“There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart.”

“Those who never complain are never pitied.”

“To sit in the shade on a fine day, and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment.”