Becoming Jane: The Wit and Wisdom of Jane Austen

Inspired by Becoming Jane, the romantic film that could only make you want to know more about Jane Austen, here is a delightful collection of some of her most famous and quotable quotes — pearls of wit and wisdom on topics like family, the sexes, friends, money, marriage, and of course love — that are as true today as they were in Austen's time. Jane Austen on Marriage: "My being charming, Harriet, is not quite enough to induce me to marry; I must find other people charming — one othe person at least." —Emma Woodhouse to Harriet Smith, in Emma "I am of a cautious temper, and unwilling to risk my happiness in a hurry. Nobody can think more highly of the matrimonial state than myself. I consider the blessing of a wife as most justly described in those discreet lines of the poet, 'Heaven's last best gift.'" —Henry Crawford to his sisters in Mansfield Park "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." —From Pride and Prejudice