Louisa May Alcott Quotes

I put in my list all the busy, useful independent spinsters I know, for liberty is a better husband than love to many of us.

strength and beauty must go hand in hand

There are many Beths in the world, shy and quiet, sitting in corners till needed, and living for others so cheerfully that no one sees the sacrifices till the little cricket on the hearth stops chirping, and the sweet, sunshiny presence vanishes, leaving silence and shadow behind.

Young men often laugh at the sensible girls whom they secretly respect, and affect to admire the silly ones whom they secretly despise, because earnestness, intelligence, and womanly dignity are not the fashion.

I'm perfectly miserable; but if you consider me presentable, I die happy.

Laurie felt just then that his heart was entirely broken and the world a howling wilderness.

Mac looked up with the oddest of all his odd expressions

Resolved to take fate by the throat and shake a living out of her.

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.

All is fish that comes to the literary net. Goethe puts his joys and sorrows into poems, I turn my adventures into bread and butter.

There is very little real liberty in the world; even those who seem freest are often the most tightly bound. Law, custom, public opinion, fear or shame make slaves of us all, as you will find when you try your experiment.

The mere possession of a gun is, in itself, an urge to kill, not only by design, but by accident, by madness, by fright, by bravado.

Nothing provokes speculation more than the sight of a woman enjoying herself." -

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.

But, Polly, a principle that can't bear being laughed at, frowned on, and cold-shouldered, isn't worthy of the name.

I'll try and be what he loves to call me, 'a little woman,' and not be rough and wild, but do my duty here instead of wanting to be somewhere else.

I wish I had no heart, it aches so.

Marmee: Oh, Jo. Jo, you have so many extraordinary gifts; how can you expect to lead an ordinary life? You’re ready to go out and – and find a good use for your talent. Tho’ I don’t know what I shall do without my Jo. Go, and embrace your liberty. And see what wonderful things come of it.

The emerging woman ... will be strong-minded, strong-hearted, strong-souled, and strong-bodied...strength and beauty must go together.

Rome took all the vanity out of me; for after seeing the wonders there, I felt too insignificant to live, and gave up all my foolish hopes in despair.

When I had youth I had no money; now I have the money I have no time; and when I get the time, if I ever do, I shall have no health to enjoy life. I suppose it's the discipline I need; but it's rather hard to love the things I do, and see them go by because duty chains me to my galley. If I ever come into port with all sails set, that will be my reward perhaps.

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

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.

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

Woman work a great many miracles.

Money is a needful and precious thing

Dolls are safe companions.

Father asked us what was God's noblest work. Anna said men, but I said babies. Men are often bad, but babies never are.

What do girls do who haven't any mothers to help them through their troubles?

But buds will be roses, and kittens, cats - more's the pity.

There was a good deal of laughing and kissing and explaining, in the simple, loving fashion which makes these home-festivals so pleasant at the time, so sweet to remember long afterward, and then all fell to work.

Young people think they never can change, but they do in the most wonderful manner, and very few die of broken hearts.

Girls are so queer you never know what they mean. They say No when they mean Yes, and drive a man out of his wits for the fun of it.

It is never too early to try and plant [good principles] in a child, and never too late to cultivate them in the most neglected person.

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.

Right Jo better be happy old maids than unhappy wives or unmaidenly girls running about to find husbands.

…it is so much better to work for others than for one's self alone.

Nothing seemed impossible in the beginning.

The girls gave their hearts into their mother's keeping-their souls into their father's; and to both parents, who lived and labored so faithfully for them, they gave a love that grew with their growth, and bound them tenderly together by the sweetest tie which blesses life and outlives death.

Honesty is the best policy, in love as in law.

For with eyes made clear by many tears, and a heart softened by the tenderest sorrow, she recognized the beauty of her sister's life—uneventful, unambitious, yet full of the genuine virtues which 'smell sweet, and blossom in the dust', the self-forgetfulness that makes the humblest on earth remembered soonest in heaven, the true success which is possible to all.

Wild roses are fairest, and nature a better gardener than art.

Our actions are in our own hands, but the consequences of them are not. Remember that, my dear, and think twice before you do anything.

You have grown abominably lazy, and you like gossip, and waste time on frivolous things, you are contented to be petted and admired by silly people, instead of being loved and respected by wise ones.

I for one don't want to be ranked among idiots, felons, and minors any longer, for I am none of them.

...for a girl with eyes like hers has a will and is not ruled by anyone but a lover.

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.

…to the inspiration of necessity, we owe half the wise, beautiful, and useful blessings of the world.