Jane Porter Quotes

Guilt is a spiritual Rubicon.

I want what's mine. And you wife, are mine.

If cowardice were not so completely a coward as to be unable to look steadily upon the effects of courage, he would find that there is no refuge so sure as dauntless valor.

How different is the ready hand, tearful eye, and soothing voice, from the ostentatious appearance which is called pity.

Life is a warfare; and he who easily desponds deserts a double duty
he betrays the noblest property of man, which is dauntless resolution; and he rejects the providence of that All-Gracious Being who guides and rules the universe.

He that easily believes rumors has the principle within him to augment rumors. It is strange to see the ravenous appetite with which some devourers of character and happiness fix upon the sides of the innocent and unfortunate.

We all know that a lie needs no other grounds, than the invention of the liar; and to take for granted as truth, all that is alleged against the fame of others, is a species of credulity, that men would blush at on any other subject.

Love is full of imagination.

There is nothing so clear-sighted and sensible as a noble mind in a low estate.

Beauty of form affects the mind, but then it must be understood that it is not the mere shell that we admire; we are attracted by the idea that this shell is only a beautiful case adjusted to the shape and value of a still more beautiful pearl within. The perfection of outward loveliness is the soul shining through its crystalline covering.

Compulsion hardly restores right; love yields all things.

The doubts of love are never to be wholly overcome; they grow with its various anxieties, timidities, and tenderness, and are the very fruits of the reverence in which the admired object is beheld.

National antipathy is the basest, because the most illiberal and illiterate of all prejudices.

Self-love leads men of narrow minds to measure all mankind by their own capacity.

People do not always understand the motives of sublime conduct, and when they are astonished they are very apt to think they ought to be alarmed. The truth is none are fit judges of greatness but those who are capable of it.

In his fairy dreams of war [Thaddeus] always made conquest the sure end of his battles ...

All warfare that is not defensive is criminal.

To be truly and really independent is to support ourselves by our own exertions.

Lachrymal counsellors, with one foot in the cave of despair, and the other invading the peace of their friends, are the paralyzers of action, the pests of society, and the subtlest homicides in the world; they poison with a tear; and convey a dagger to the heart while they press you to their bosoms.

It is not designed that the road should be made too smooth for us here upon earth.

God forgive her, but underneath the smiles and the good job and the great family, she was tired. Desperately tired. Tired to the point of breaking. In the last few years the exhaustion had grown, rising up like a specter to knock on her door. No one knew, she hadn't told even Kit, but in the past year she'd begun to question her entire existence. Why was she even here? What was life? Was she even necessary?
Maybe all women had these thoughts. Maybe all women felt tired. But the thoughts confused her. Good women weren't supposed to have doubts. Good women were supposed to be strong and selfless. Instead Meg felt needy and afraid. What if there was no reward for all the hard work? What if life was just one sacrifice after another?

He was beautiful, but he was what he was. A man.

A sincere acquaintance with ourselves teaches us humility; and from humility springs that benevolence which compassionates the transgressors we condemn, and prevents the punishments we inflict from themselves partaking of crime, in being rather the wreakings of revenge than the chastisements of virtue.

I'm not a hermit. I'm just an introvert, which means I like people, but I don't find parties exciting. They tire me out.

The pure in heart are slow to credit calumnies, because they hardly comprehend what motives can be inducements to the alleged crimes.

He studied her flushed face. Last night she'd been pale like porcelain, a creamy alabaster, but tonight she burned. She glowed. Her dark blue eyes shone, her cheeks flushed a hot feverish pink.

She needed a firm hand. She could use a calming hand.

How convenient. He had two.

Be shocking, be daring, be bold, be passionate.

The fruition of what is unlawful must be followed by remorse. The core sticks in the throat after the apple is eaten, and the sated appetite loathes the interdicted pleasure for which innocence was bartered.

...fine tailoring couldn't cloak the primitive danger of the desert. The desert was about life. Death. Survival.

And she saw the desert in his eyes, dark gold like the Saharan sand.

Imparting knowledge is only lighting other men's candles at our lamp without depriving ourselves of any flame.

I love you more than I hate cars, so I decided I'd try to face my fears and take some risks.

Where there is any good disposition, confidence begets faithfulness; but distrust, if it do not produce treachery; never fails to destroy every inclination to evince fidelity. Most people disdain to clear themselves from the accusations of mere suspicion.

Goodness is equally hateful to the wicked, as vice is to the virtuous.

The platform or the altar of love may be analyzed and explained; it is constructed of virtue, beauty, and affection. Such is the pyre, such is the offering; but the ethereal spark must come from heaven, that lights the sacrifice.

Yet happiness isn't something you chase, it's something you are. It's something you think, it's something you believe.

A generous spirit is as eloquent in acknowledging benefits as it is bounteous in bestowing them ...

ABOUT THE AUTHOR JANE PORTER

We never know the blessings bestowed on us until we are separated from the possession of them.

Virtue, without the graces, is like a rich diamond unpolished
it hardly looks better than a common pebble; but when the hand of the master rubs off the roughness, and forms the sides into a thousand brilliant surfaces, it is then that we acknowledge its worth, admire its beauty, and long to wear it in our bosoms.

Virtue is despotic; life, reputation, every earthly good, must be surrendered at her voice. The law may seem hard, but it is the guardian of what it commands; and is the only sure defence of happiness.

That grief is the most durable which flows inward, and buries its streams with its fountain, in the depths of the heart.

Dr. Johnson has said that the chief glory of a country arises from its authors. But then that is only as they are oracles of wisdom; unless they teach virtue, they are more worthy of a halter than of the laurel.