Emma Quotes

“A straightforward, open-hearted man like Weston, and a rational, unaffected woman like Miss Taylor, may be safely left to manage their own concerns. You are more likely to have done harm to yourself, than good to them, by interference.” “Emma never thinks of herself, if she can do good to others,” rejoined Mr. Woodhouse, understanding but in part. “But, my dear, pray do not make any more matches; they are silly things, and break up one’s family circle grievously.”
― Jane Austen, Emma

“Emma denied none of it aloud, and agreed to none of it in private.”
― Jane Austen, Emma

“My dearest Emma, for that is what you always have been and you always will be, my most beloved Emma. I cannot make speeches. If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more(...)”
― Jane Austen, Emma

“Whenever you are transplanted, like me, you will understand how very delightful it is to meet with anything at all like what one has left behind.”
― Jane Austen, Emma

“But Mr. Elton had only drunk wine enough to elevate his spirits, not at all to confuse his intellects.”
― Jane Austen, Emma

“There is always one thing a man can do, if he so chooses, and that is his duty.”
― Jane Austen, Emma

“No, Emma, your amiable young man can be amiable only in French, not in English. He may be very ‘aimable,’ have very good manners, and be very agreeable; but he can have no English delicacy towards the feelings of other people: nothing really amiable about him.”
― Jane Austen, Emma

“I have none of the usual inducements of women to marry. Were I to fall in love, indeed, it would be a different thing! but I never have been in love; it is not my way, or my nature; and I do not think I ever shall. And, without love, I am sure I should be a fool to change such a situation as mine. Fortune I do not want; employment I do not want; consequence I do not want.”
― Jane Austen, Emma

“I cannot make speeches Emma... if I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.”
― Jane Austen, Emma

“John Knightley only was in mute astonishment.—That a man who might have
spent his evening quietly at home after a day of business in London, should set off again, and
walk half a mile to another man's house, for the sake of being in mixed company till bed-time,
of finishing his day in the efforts of civility and the noise of numbers, was a circumstance to
strike him deeply. A man who had been in motion since eight o'clock in the morning, and
might now have been still, who had been long talking, and might have been silent, who had
been in more than one crowd, and might have been alone!—Such a man, to quit the tranquillity
and independence of his own fireside, and on the evening of a cold sleety April day rush out
again into the world!—Could he by a touch of his finger have instantly taken back his wife,
there would have been a motive; but his coming would probably prolong rather than break up
the party. John Knightley looked at him with amazement, then shrugged his shoulders, and
said, "I could not have believed it even of him.”
― Jane Austen, Emma

“if I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more”
― Jane Austen, Emma

“till it appears that men are much more philosophic on the subject of beauty than they are generally supposed; till they do fall in love with well-informed minds instead of handsome faces, a girl, with such loveliness as Harriet, has a certainty of being admired and sought after, of having the power of chusing from among many, consequently a claim to be nice. Her good-nature, too, is not so very slight a claim, comprehending, as it does, real, thorough sweetness of temper and manner, a very humble opinion of herself, and a great readiness to be pleased with other people. I am very much mistaken if your sex in general would not think such beauty, and such temper, the highest claims a woman could possess.”
― Jane Austen, Emma

“I wanted to keep it from Jane's knowledge; but, unluckily, I had mentioned it before I was aware.”
― Jane Austen, Emma

“I always deserve the best treatment, because I never put up with any other;”
― Jane Austen, Emma

“There is one thing, Emma, which a man can always do, if he chuses, and that is, his duty; not by manoeuvring and finessing, but by vigour and resolution.”
― Jane Austen, Emma

“She always declares she will never marry, which, of course, means just nothing at all. But I have no idea that she has yet ever seen a man she cared for. It would not be a bad thing for her to be very much in love with a proper object. I should like to see Emma in love, and in some doubt of a return; it would do her good. But there is nobody hereabouts to attach her; and she goes so seldom from home.”
― Jane Austen, Emma

“A straightforward, open-hearted man like Weston, and a rational, unaffected woman like Miss Taylor, may be safely left to manage their own concerns. You are more likely to have done harm to yourself, than good to them, by interference.” “Emma never thinks of herself, if she can do good to others,” rejoined Mr. Woodhouse, understanding but in part. “But, my dear, pray do not make any more matches; they are silly things, and break up one’s family circle grievously.”
― Jane Austen, Emma

“You are a very warm friend to Mr. Martin; but, as I said before, are unjust to Harriet. ... Waiving that point, however, and supposing her to be, as you describe her, only pretty and good-natured, let me tell you, that in the degree she possesses them, they are not trivial recommendations to the world in general, ... and till it appears that men are much more philosophic on the subject of beauty than they are generally supposed; till they do fall in love with well-informed minds instead of handsome faces, a girl, with such loveliness as Harriet, has a certainty of being admired and sought after, of having the power of chusing from among many, consequently a claim to be nice. Her good-nature, too, is not so very slight a claim, comprehending, as it does, real, thorough sweetness of temper and manner, a very humble opinion of herself, and a great readiness to be pleased with other people. I am very much mistaken if your sex in general would not think such beauty, and such temper, the highest claims a woman could possess.”
― Jane Austen, Emma

“These are the sights, Harriet, to do one good. How trifling they make every thing else appear!---I feel now as if I could think of nothing but these poor creatures all the rest of the day; and yet, who can say how soon it may all vanish from my mind?”
― Jane Austen, Emma

“I do not find myself making any use of the word sacrifice," said she. — "In not one of all my clever replies, my delicate negatives, is there any allusion to making a sacrifice. I do suspect that he is not really necessary to my happiness.”
― Jane Austen, Emma

“But , Mr. Knightley, are you perfectly sure that she has absolutely and downright accepted him? I could suppose she might in time, but can she already? Did not you misunderstand him? You were both talking of other things; of business, shows of cattle, or new drills; and might not you, in the confusion of so many subjects, mistake him? It was not Harriet's hand that he was certain of- it was the dimensions of some famous ox.”
― Jane Austen, Emma

“A single woman, with a very narrow income, must be a ridiculous, disagreeable old maid! The proper sport of boys and girls, but a single woman, of good fortune, is always respectable, and may be as sensible and pleasant as any body else.”
― Jane Austen, Emma

“He had caught both substance and shadow — both fortune and affection, and was just the happy man he ought to be.”
― Jane Austen, Emma

“He had followed her into the shrubbery with no idea of trying it”
― Jane Austen, Emma

“Mr. Knightley, a sensible man about seven or eight-and-thirty, was not only a very old and intimate friend of the family, but particularly connected with it, as the elder brother of Isabella’s husband.”
― Jane Austen, Emma

“The evil of the actual disparity in their ages (and Mr. Woodhouse had not married early) was much increased by his constitution and habits; for having been a valetudinarian all his life, without activity of mind or body, he was a much older man in ways than in years; and though everywhere beloved for the friendliness of his heart and his amiable temper, his talents could not have recommended him at any time.”
― Jane Austen, Emma

“Certainly silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way.”
― Jane Austen, Emma

“Happiness must preclude false indulgence and physic.”
― Jane Austen, Emma

“Respect for right conduct is felt by everybody.”
― Jane Austen, Emma

“With such a worshipping wife, it was hardly possible that any natural defects in it should not be increased. The extreme sweetness of her temper must hurt his.”
― Jane Austen, Emma