I read it [history] a little as a duty, but it tells me nothing that does not either vex or weary me. The quarrels of popes and kings, with wars or pestilences, in every page; the men all so good for nothing, and hardly any women at all โ it is very tiresome: and yet I often think it odd that it should be so dull, for a great deal of it must be invention.
Jane AustenIt is this delightful habit of journalizing which largely contributes to form the easy style of writing for which ladies are so generally celebrated. Every body allows that the talent of writing is particularly female. Nature might have done something, but I am sure it must be essentially assisted by the practice of keeping a journal.
Jane AustenShe mediated, by turns, on broken promises and broken arches, phaetons and false hangings, Tilneys and trap-doors.
Jane Austen