Louisa May Alcott Quotes

I went [to war] because I couldn't help it. I didn't want the glory or the pay; I wanted the right thing done. ~ Louisa May Alcott

When Emerson's library was burning at Concord, I went to him as he stood with the firelight on his strong, sweet face, and endeavored to express my sympathy for the loss of his most valued possessions, but he answered cheerily, 'Never mind, Louisa, see what a beautiful blaze they make! We will enjoy that now.' The lesson was one never forgotten and in the varied lessons that have come to me I have learned to look for something beautiful and bright. ~ Louisa May Alcott

And best of all, the wilderness of books, in which she could wander, where she liked, made the library a region of bliss to her. ~ Louisa May Alcott

He looked at her an instant, for the effect of the graceful girlish figure with pale, passionate face and dark eyes full of sorrow, pride and resolution was wonderfully enhanced by the gloom of the great room, and glimpses of a gathering storm in the red autumn sky. ~ Louisa May Alcott

Nicely, thank you, Mr. Laurence. But I am not Miss March, I'm only Jo," returned the young lady.
"I'm not Mr. Laurence, I'm only Laurie."
"Laurie Laurence, what an odd name."
"My first name is Theodore, but I don't like it, for the fellows called me Dora, so I made them say Laurie instead."
"I hate my name, too, so sentimental! I wish every one would say Jo instead of Josephine. How did you make the boys stop calling you Dora?"
"I thrashed 'em."
"I can't thrash Aunt March, so I suppose I shall have to bear it." And Jo resigned herself with a sigh ~ Louisa May Alcott

I find it poor logic to say that because women are good, women should vote. Men do not vote because they are good; they vote because they are male, and women should vote, not because we are angels and men are animals, but because we are human beings and citizens of this country. ~ Louisa May Alcott

Faber's drawing-pencils; ~ Louisa May Alcott

Laurie thought the task of forgetting his love for Jo would absorb all his powers for years; but, to his surprise, he discovered it grew easier every day. He refused to believe it at first,--got angry with himself, and couldn't understand it; but these hearts of ours are curious and contrary things, and time and nature work their will in spite of us. Laurie's heart wouldn't ache; the wound persisted in healing with a rapidity that astonished him, and, instead of trying to forget, he found himself trying to remember. ~ Louisa May Alcott

Four little chests all in a row,
Dim with dust, and worn by time,
Four women, taught by weal and woe
To love and labor in their prime. "
"Four sisters, parted for an hour,
None lost, one only gone before,
Made by love's immortal power,
Nearest and dearest evermore. ~ Louisa May Alcott

Don't suggest that we are growing old, my Lord. We have only bloomed; and a very nice bouquet we make with our buds about us,' answered Mrs. Amy, shaking out the folds of her rosy muslin with much the air of dainty satisfaction the girl used to show in a new dress.
Not to mention our thorns and dead leaves,' added Jo, with a sigh; for life had never been very easy to her, and even now she had her troubles both within and without. ~ Louisa May Alcott

A real gentleman is as polite to a little girl as to a woman. ~ Louisa May Alcott

AMY'S LECTURE DID Laurie good, though, of course, he did not own it till long afterward. Men seldom do, for when women are the advisers, the lords of creation don't take the advice till they have persuaded themselves that it is just what they intended to do. Then they act upon it, and, if it succeeds, they give the weaker vessel half the credit of it. ~ Louisa May Alcott

It's so dreadful to be poor! sighed Meg, looking down at her old dress. ~ Louisa May Alcott

She discovered that her feet were cold, her head ached, and that her heart was colder than the former, fuller of pain than the latter. ~ Louisa May Alcott

Fame is a pearl many dive for and only a few bring up. Even when they do, it is not perfect, and they sigh for more, and lose better things in struggling for them. ~ Louisa May Alcott

Now and then genius carries all before it, but not often. We have to climb slowly, with many slips and falls. ~ Louisa May Alcott

I like the plain, old-fashioned churches, built for use, not show, where people met for hearty praying and preaching, and where everybody made their own music instead of listening to opera singers, as we do now. I don't care if the old churches were bare and cold, and the seats hard, there was real piety in them, and the sincerity of it was felt in the lives of the people. I don't want a religion that I put away with my Sunday clothes, and don't take out till the day comes round again; I want something to see and feel and live by day-by-day, ~ Louisa May Alcott

Watch and pray, dear, never get tired of trying, and never think it is impossible to conquer your fault. ~ Louisa May Alcott

Lounging and larking doesn't pay," observed Jo, shaking her head. "I'm tired of it and mean to go to work at something right off. ~ Louisa May Alcott

I'm not Meg tonight, I'm a 'doll'. ~ Louisa May Alcott

The conversations were miles beyond Jo's comprehension, but she enjoyed it, though Kant and Hegel were unknown gods, the Subjective and Objective unintelligible terms, and the only thing 'evolved from her inner consciousness' was a bad headache after it was all over. ~ Louisa May Alcott

I don't understand it. What can there be in a simple little story like that to make people praise it so?" she said, quite bewildered. "There is truth in it, Jo, that's the secret. ~ Louisa May Alcott

... for it is a very solemn thing to be arrested in the midst of busy life by the possibility of the great change. ~ Louisa May Alcott

We've got minds and souls as well as hearts; ambition and talents as well as beauty and accomplishments; and we want to live and learn as well as love and be loved. I'm sick of being told that is all a woman is fit for! I won't have anything to do with love until I prove that I am something beside a housekeeper and a baby-tender! ~ Louisa May Alcott

In the midst of her tears came the thought, "When people are in danger, they ask God to save them;" and, slipping down upon her knees, she said her prayer as she had never said it before, for when human help seems gone we turn to Him as naturally as lost children cry to their father, and feel sure that he will hear and answer them. ~ Louisa May Alcott

If every one agreed, we should never get on. ~ 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

I don't know why I can't love you as you want me to. I've tried, but I can't change the feeling, and it would be a lie to say I do when I don't. ~ Louisa May Alcott

He danced like a grasshopper on fire, ~ Louisa May Alcott

November is the most disagreeable month in the whole year," said Margaret, standing at the window one dull afternoon, looking out at the frostbitten garden.
"That's the reason I was born in it," observed Jo pensively, quite unconscious of the blot on her nose. ~ Louisa May Alcott

When I seemed most like a child I was learning to be a woman. ~ Louisa May Alcott

A faithful friend is a strong defense;
And he that hath found him hath found a treasure. ~ Louisa May Alcott

Lotty would be privately dispatched with a batch of failures, which were to be concealed from all eyes in the convenient stomachs of the little Hummels. ~ Louisa May Alcott

It takes three or four women to get each man into, through, and out of the world. ~ Louisa May Alcott

My only answer is, if my grave stood open on one side and you upon the other I'd go into my grave before I would take one step to meet you. ~ Louisa May Alcott

Do the things you know, and you shall learn the truth you need to know. ~ Louisa May Alcott

Now I am beginning to live a little and feel less like a sick oyster at low tide. ~ Louisa May Alcott

I don't like favors; they oppress and make me fell like a slave. I'd rather do everything for myself, and be perfectly independent. ~ Louisa May Alcott

Crochety friend. On the afternoon of the second day, she went out to do an ~ Louisa May Alcott

Ah, but it wasn't all right, and Jo did mind, for while the curly head lay on her arm a minute after her hard answer, she felt as if she had stabbed her dearest friend, and when he left her without a look behind him, she knew that the boy Laurie never would come again. ~ Louisa May Alcott

Simple, genuine goodness is the best capital to found the business of this life upon. It lasts when fame and money fail, and is the only riches we can take out of this world with us. ~ Louisa May Alcott

I planned to spend mine in new music, said Beth, with a little sigh, which no one heard but the hearth brush and kettle-holder. ~ Louisa May Alcott

Perhaps it would have been better if he had killed me; my life is spoilt. ~ Louisa May Alcott

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

We'll all grow up Meg, no pretending we won't. ~ Louisa May Alcott

The uncomfortable appearance of a girl who was rapidly shooting up into a woman and didn't like it. ~ Louisa May Alcott

I'd rather see you poor men's wives, if you were happy, beloved, contented, than queen's on thrones, without self-respect and peace. ~ Louisa May Alcott

Jo carried her love of liberty and hate of conventionalities to such and unlimited extent that she naturally found herself worsted in an argument. ~ Louisa May Alcott

Virtue was its own reward. ~ Louisa May Alcott

The youngest, aged twelve, could not conceal her disappointment, and turned away, feeling as so many of us have felt when we discover that our idols are very extraordinary men and women. ~ 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

Constant complaints were being made of incompetent attendants, and some dozen women did double duty, and then were blamed for breaking down. If any hospital director fancies this a good and economical arrangement, allow one used up nurse to tell him it isn't, and beg him to spare the sisterhood, who sometimes, in their sympathy, forget that they are mortal, and run the risk of being made immortal, sooner than is agreeable to their partial friends. ~ Louisa May Alcott

How little it takes to make a young girl happy! A pretty dress, sunshine, and somebody opposite, and they are blest. ~ Louisa May Alcott

Love is a beautifier. ~ Louisa May Alcott

CHAPTER FOURTEEN SECRETS Jo ~ Louisa May Alcott

Her father's old books were all she could command, and these she wore out with much reading. Inheriting his refined tastes, she found nothing to attract her in the society of the commonplace and often coarse people about her. She tried to like the buxom girls whose one ambition was to "get married," and whose only subjects of conversation were "smart bonnets" and "nice dresses." She tried to believe that the admiration and regard of the bluff young farmers was worth striving for; but when one well-to-do neighbor laid his acres at her feet, she found it impossible to accept for her life's companion a man whose soul was wrapped up in prize cattle and big turnips. ~ Louisa May Alcott

... the day had been both unprofitable and unsatisfactory, and he was wishing he could live it over again. ~ Louisa May Alcott

This household happiness did not come all at once, but John and Meg had found the key to it, and each year of married life taught them how to use it, unlocking the treasuries of real home love and mutual helpfulness, which the poorest may possess, and the richest cannot buy. This is the sort of shelf on which young wives and mothers may consent to be laid, safe from the restless fret and fever of the world, finding loyal lovers in the little sons and daughters who cling to them, undaunted by sorrow, poverty, or age, walking side by side, through fair and stormy weather, with a faithful friend, who is, in the true sense of the good old Saxon word, the 'house-band,' and learning, as Meg learned, that a woman's happiest kingdom is home, her highest honor the art of ruling it not as a queen, but as a wise wife and mother. ~ Louisa May Alcott

I know whom I shall marry. He must be handsome, young, clever enough, and very rich-ever so much richer than the Lawrences. His family musn't object, and I shall be very happy, for they shall be kind, sell-bred, genrous people, and they shall like me. He shall be the oldest and have the estate, and should be a city house in a fashionable street, and twice as comfortable as anything and full of solid luxury. One of us must marry well; Meg didn't, Jo didn't, Beth can't yet, so I shall, and make everything cozy all around. ~ Louisa May Alcott

Dear me! If only men and women would trust, understand and help as my children do, what a capital place `the world would be! ~ Louisa May Alcott

Because, what?" "You won't tell?" "Never!" "Well, I have a bad trick ~ Louisa May Alcott

It is one of her aristocratic tastes, and quite proper, for a real lady is always known by neat boots, gloves, and handkerchief. ~ Louisa May Alcott

Well, now there is a very excellent, necessary, and womanly accomplishment that my girl should not be without, for it is a help to rich and poor, and the comfort of families depends upon it. This fine talent is neglected nowadays and considered old-fashioned, which is a sad mistake and one that I don't mean to make in bringing up my girl. It should be part of every girl's eductation, and I know of a most accomplished lady who will teach you in the best and pleasantest manner."
"Oh, what is it?" cried Rose eagerly, charmed to be met in this helpful and cordial way.
"Housekeeping!"
"Is that an accomplsihment?" asked Rose, while her face fell, for she had indulged in all sorts of vague, delightful daydreams. ~ Louisa May Alcott

I'd rather be a free spinster and paddle my own canoe. ~ Louisa May Alcott

I wish I had no heart, it aches so… ~ Louisa May Alcott

I want my daughters to be beautiful, accomplished, and good; to be admired, loved, and respected; to have a happy youth, to be well and wisely married, and to lead useful, pleasant lives, with as little care and sorrow to try them as God sees fit to send. To be loved and chosen by a good man is the best and sweetest thing which can happen to a woman; and I sincerely hope my girls may know this beautiful experience.
Marmee
Little Women ~ Louisa May Alcott

For love is the only thing that we can carry with us when we go, and it makes the end so easy." "I'll try, Beth." And ~ Louisa May Alcott

He was not a perfect child, by any means, but his faults were of the better sort; and being early taught the secret of self-control, he was not left at the mercy of appetites and passions, as some poor little mortals are, and then punished for yielding to the temptations against which they have no armor. ~ Louisa May Alcott

I suppose it's natural to some people to please without trying, and others to always say and do the wrong thing in the wrong place. ~ Louisa May Alcott

We each are young, we each have a heart, Oh, why should we thus stand coldly apart ~ Louisa May Alcott

It's very singular how hard it is to manage your mind,' said Demi, clasping his hands round his knees, and looking up at the sky as if for information upon his favorite topic. ~ Louisa May Alcott

These attributes, in spite of poverty and the strict integrity which shut him out from the more worldly successes, attracted to him many admirable persons, as naturally as sweet herbs draw bees, and as naturally he gave them the honey into which fifty years of hard experience had distilled no bitter drop. ~ Louisa May Alcott

Our burdens are here, our road is before us, and the longing for goodness and happiness is the guide that leads us through many troubles and mistakes to the peace which is a true Celestial City. ~ Louisa May Alcott

I think this power of living in our children is one of the sweetest things in the world ... ~ 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

I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship. ~ 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

An old maid, that's what I'm to be. A literary spinster, with a pen for a spouse, a family of stories for children, and twenty years hence a morsel of fame, perhaps ... ~ Louisa May Alcott

It takes two flints to make a fire. ~ Louisa May Alcott

I rather miss my wild girl; but if I get a strong, helpful, tender-hearted woman in her place, I shall feel quite satisfied. ~ Louisa May Alcott

strength and beauty must go hand in hand ~ Louisa May Alcott

The snores alone were quite a study, varying from the mild sniff to the stentorian snort, which startled the echoes and hoisted the performer erect to accuse his neighbor of the deed, magnanimously forgive him, and wrapping the drapery of his couch about him, lie down to vocal slumber. After listening for a week to this band of wind instruments, I indulged in the belief that I could recognize each by the snore alone, and was tempted to join the chorus by breaking out with John Brown's favorite hymn: Blow ye the trumpet, blow! ~ Louisa May Alcott

You think then, that it is better to have a few duties and live a little for others, do you? ~ Louisa May Alcott

I don't believe any of you suffer as I do," cried Amy, "for you don't have to go to school with impertinent girls, who plague you if you don't know your lessons, and laugh at your dresses, and label your father if he isn't rich, and insult you when your nose isn't nice. ~ Louisa May Alcott

Here's Meg married and a mamma, Amy flourishing away at Paris, and Beth in love. I'm the only one that has sense enough to keep out of mischief. ~ Louisa May Alcott

Human minds are more full of mysteries than any written book and more changeable than the cloud shapes in the air. ~ Louisa May Alcott

The girls put their wits to work, and - necessity being the mother of invention - made whatever they needed. ~ Louisa May Alcott

Don't be sorry, I won't let it hurt me. I'll forget all the bad and remember only the good, for I did enjoy a great deal. ~ Louisa May Alcott

I believe that it is as much a right and duty for women to do something with their lives as for men and we are not going to be satisfied with such frivolous parts as you give us. ~ Louisa May Alcott

The least of of us have some influence in this big world; and perhaps my little girl can do some good by showing others that a contented heart and a happy face are better ornaments than any Paris can give her. ~ Louisa May Alcott

He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions. ~ Louisa May Alcott

You laugh at me when I say I want to be a lady, but I mean a true gentlewoman in mind and manners, and I try to do it as far as I know how. I can't explain exactly, but I want to be above the little meannesses and follies and faults that spoil so many women ~ Louisa May Alcott

I'm here, hold on to me, Jo, dear!" - Laurie ~ Louisa May Alcott

I know I do - teaching those tiresome children nearly all day, when I'm longing to enjoy myself at home, began Meg, in the complaining tone again. ~ Louisa May Alcott

Earth hath no sorrow that heaven cannot heal; ~ Louisa May Alcott

... I can't help seeing that you are very lonely, and sometimes there is a hungry look in your eyes that goes to my heart. ~ Louisa May Alcott

For 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

And when they went away, leaving comfort behind, I think there were not in all the city four merrier people than the hungry little girls who gave away their breakfasts and contented themselves with bread and milk on Christmas morning. ~ Louisa May Alcott

I read somewhere that every inch of rope used in the British Navy has a strand of red in it, so that wherever a bit of it is found it is known. That is the text of my little sermon to you. Virtue, which means honour, honesty, courage, and all that makes character, is the red thread that marks a good man wherever he is. ~ Louisa May Alcott

The trouble of overseeing a fidgety child when she wanted ~ Louisa May Alcott