Louisa May Alcott Quotes

If we are all alive ten years hence, let's meet, and see how many of us have got our wishes, or how much nearer we are then than now.

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.

Don't try to make me grow up before my time.

A time will come when you will find that in gaining a brief joy you have lost your peace forever.

Many argue; not many converse.

Love Jo all your days, if you choose, but don't let it spoil you, for it's wicked to throw away so many good gifts because you can't have the one you want.

Do the things you know, and you shall learn the truth you need to know.

...the love, respect, and confidence of my children was the sweetest reward I could receive for my efforts to be the woman I would have them copy.

…because talent isn't genius, and no amount of energy can make it so. I want to be great, or nothing.

A real gentleman is as polite to a little girl as to a woman.

Where's the use of looking nice, when no one sees me but those cross midgets, and no one cares whether I'm pretty or not?

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.

…tomorrow was her birthday, and she was thinking how fast the years went by, how old she was getting, and how little she seemed to have accomplished. Almost twenty-five and nothing to show for it.

November is the most disagreeable month in the whole year.

A quick temper, sharp tongue, and restless spirit were always getting her into scrapes, and her life was a series of ups and downs, which were both comic and pathetic.

O vanity, mislead no more!

I'm tired of praise; and love is very sweet, when it is simple and sincere like this.

Your father, Jo. He never loses patience, never doubts or complains, but always hopes, and works and waits so cheerfully that one is ashamed to do otherwise before him.

Prosperity suits some people, and they blossom best in a glow of sunshine; others need the shade, and are the sweeter for a touch of frost.

Poor dull Concord. Nothing colorful has come through here since the Redcoats.

Life is like college; may I graduate and earn some honors.

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.

I am angry nearly every day of my life, but I have learned not to show it; and I still try to hope not to feel it, though it may take me another forty years to do it.

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.

I keep turning over new leaves, and spoiling them, as I used to spoil my copybooks; and I make so many beginnings there never will be an end. (Jo March)

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

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

Better lose your life than your soul.

Salt is like good-humor, and nearly every thing is better for a pinch of it.

Some people seemed to get all sunshine, and some all shadow.

…in silence learned the sweet solace which affection administers to sorrow.

It takes so little to make a child happy, that it is a pity in a world full of sunshine and pleasant things, that there should be any wistful faces, empty hands, or lonely little hearts.

No woman should give her happiness into the keeping of a man without fixed principles.

…she'll go and fall in love, and there's an end of peace and fun, and cozy times together.

I want to be great, or nothing. I won't be a commonplace dauber, so I don't intend to try any more.

Let us be elegant or die! --Amy

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.

You may try your experiment for a week and see how you like it. I think by Saturday night you will find that all play and no work is as bad as all work and no play

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

The female population exceeds the male, you know, especially in New England, which accounts for the high state of culture we are in, perhaps.

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

Work is and always has been my salvation and I thank the Lord for it.

Now and then, in this workaday world, things do happen in the delightful storybook fashion, and what a comfort that is.

It's lovely to see people so happy.

Dan clung to her in speechless gratitude, feeling the blessedness of mother love, — that divine gift which comforts, purifies, and strengthens all who seek it.

Beth ceased to fear him from that moment, and sat there talking to him as cozily as if she had known him all her life, for love casts out fear, and gratitude can conquer pride.

…on some occasions, women, like dreams, go by contraries.

She preferred imaginary heroes to real ones, because when tired of them, the former could be shut up in the tin kitchen till called for, and the latter were less manageable.

…what splendid dreams young people build upon a word, and how bitter is the pain when the bright bubbles burst.

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.