Louisa May Alcott Quotes

Everybody has their days of misfortune.

No love or pity, pardon or excuse should soften the sharp pang of reparation for the guilty man.

But the spirit of Eve is strong in all her daughters.

To marry without love betrays as surely as to love without marriage.

Self-pity in its early stages is as snug as a feather mattress. Only when it hardens does it become uncomfortable.

... swept into the giddy vortex which keeps so many young people revolving aimlessly, till they go down or are cast upon the shore, wrecks of what they might have been

Jo's ambition was to do something very splendid; what it was she had no idea, as yet, but left it for time to tell her.

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

It was fortunate that tea was at hand, to produce a lull and provide refreshment,— for they would have been hoarse and faint if they had gone on much longer.

So she enjoyed herself heartily, and found, what isn't always the case, that her granted wish was all she had hoped.

I wish I had no heart, it aches so.

For the wise old man was universally beloved, and ministered so beautifully to his flock that many of them thanked him all their lives for the help given to both hearts and souls.

Go out more, keep cheerful as well as busy, for you are the sunshine-maker of the family, and if you get dismal there is no fair weather.

I had a pleasant time with my mind, for it was happy.

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

Head, you may think; heart, you may feel; But hand, you shall work alway!

When I had the 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.

Elegance has a bad effect on my constitution.

I can't get over my disappointment in not being a boy.

Laurie, you're an angel! How shall I ever thank you?" "Fly at me again. I rather liked it," said Laurie, looking mischievous, a thing he had not done for a fortnight.

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

I can get on with wild beasts first-rate; but men rile me awfully.

But, like all happiness, it did not last long.

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.

It's a great comfort to have an artistic sister.

I will make a battering-ram of my head and make my way through this rough and tumble world.

We'll all grow up Meg, no pretending we won't.

Love is apt to make lunatics of even men and saints.

…men never forgive like women.

Souls and bodies should go on together.

She fell into the moody, miserable state of mind which often comes when strong wills have to yield to the inevitable.

Jo began to dance a jig,...Amy nearly fell out of the window in her surprise, and Meg exclaimed, with uplifted hands, 'Well I do believe the world is coming to an end!

politics were as bad as mathematics, and that the mission of politicians seemed to be calling each other names

I love my liberty too well to be in a hurry to give it up for any mortal man.

My father taught in the wise way which unfolds what lies in the child

I never knew how much like heaven this world could be, when two people love and live for one another!

So she doesn't call desertion, poverty, and hard work troubles? She's a brave little girl, and I shall be proud to know her.

To me, love isn't all. I must look up, not down, trust and honor with my whole heart, and find strenght and integrity to lean on

Fame is a very good thing to have in the house, but cash is more convenient.

To most the end comes as naturally and simply as sleep.

Now we are expected to be as wise as men who have had generations of all the help there is, and we scarcely anything.

But, like all happiness, it did not last long…

Well, I am happy, and I won't fret, but it does seem as if the more one gets the more one wants…

…feeling as if all the happiness and support of their lives was about to be taken from them.

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

I have nothing to give but my heart so full and these empty hands.""They're not empty now.

…wisely mingled poetry and prose.

She is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain

…having learned that people cannot be moulded like clay…

In her secret soul, however, she decided that politics were as bad as mathematics, and that the mission of politicians seemed to be calling each other names…