Julia Quinn’s novels have captured the hearts of readers around the world with their wit, charm, and heartfelt moments. Beyond her captivating stories, her words often inspire and uplift, reflecting themes of love, courage, and resilience. In this collection, we’ve gathered 56 of the most memorable and inspirational quotes from Julia Quinn, perfect for anyone seeking a touch of motivation and a reminder of the power of hope and determination.
1. “Sometimes Hen...I think I would give my life just for one of your smiles.” - Julia Quinn
2. “My mother is convinced that yellow is a happy color and that a happy girl would get a husband.-Penelope Featherington” - Julia Quinn
3. “This has to be the most self-centered thing I've ever said, but no, I think you just wanted to vex me.” - Julia Quinn
4. “Francesca: It's still a bit cold yet.Michael: Never stopped John and me.Francesca: Yes, well, you're Scottish. Your blood circulates quite well half frozen.” - Julia Quinn
5. “Stirlings of old had been so damned besotted with their newfound earldom that they couldn't think to put any other name on anything...It was a wonder he didn't drink Kilmartin Tea and sit on a Kilmartin-style chair. In fact, he probably would be doing just that if his grandmother had found a way to manage it without actually taking the family into trade. ” - Julia Quinn
6. “Michael nodded tersely, eyeing a table across the room. It was empty. So empty. So joyfully, blessedly empty.He could picture himself a very happy man at that table."Not feeling very conversational this evening, are we?" Colin asked, breaking into his (admittedly tame) fantasies.” - Julia Quinn
7. “Blake took a small roll from the tray on the table, then put it back in favor of a larger one. And maybe a little butter. It certainly couldn't hurt. And jam...no, he drew the line at jam. She was a spy, after all.” - Julia Quinn
8. “And if you say that's because you lot barged into her home like a herd of mentally deficient sheep, I'm disowning all three of you.” - Julia Quinn
9. “Anthony looked down at his evil clutches -- hands, he reminded himself, hands -- and grinned anew.” - Julia Quinn
10. “Colin decided then and there that the female mind was a strange and incomprehensible organ - one which no man should even attempt to understand. There wasn't a woman alive who could go from point A to B without stopping at C, D, X, and 12 along the way.” - Julia Quinn
11. “Felicity," Mrs. Featherington interurupted, "why don't you tell Mr. Brdgerton about your watercolors?"For the life of him, Colin couldn't imagine a less interesting topic (except maybe for Phillipa's watercolors), but he nonetheless turned to the youngest Featherington with a friendly smile and asked, "And how are your watercolors?"But Felicity, bless her heart, gave him a rather friendly smile herself and said nothing but, "I imagine they're fine, thank you.” - Julia Quinn
12. “Caroline stamped her foot in frustration, but when it landed, it landed on something considerablyless flat than the floor."Owww!" he yelled.Oh! His foot!Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorry , she mouthed.I didn't mean it."If you think I can understand that," he growled, "you're crazier than I'd originally thought.” - Julia Quinn
13. “Just curious,she mouthed."What? I didn't catch that."Jjuussttccuurriioouuss.She drew it out this time, hoping he'd be able to read her lips."If you spoke out loud," he drawled, "I might understand what you're saying."Caroline stamped her foot in frustration, but when it landed, it landed on something considerablyless'flat than the floor."Owww!" he yelled.Oh! His foot!Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorry , she mouthed.I didn't mean it."If you think I can understand that," he growled, "you're crazier than I'd originally thought.” - Julia Quinn
14. “Oh, God, Francesca,Now there’s a good one.Why?Why? Why?” He gave each one a different tenor, as if he were testing out the word, asking it todifferent people.“Why?” he asked again, this time with increased volumeas he turned around to face her.“Why? It’sbecause I love you, damn me to hell. Because I’ve always loved you. Because I loved you when youwere with John, and I loved you when I was in India, and God only knows I don’t deserve you, but Ilove you, anyway.”Francesca sagged against the door.“How’s that for a witty little joke?” he mocked. “I loveyou. I loveyou, my cousin’s wife. I loveyou, theone woman I can never have. I loveyou, Francesca Bridger-ton Stirling.” - Julia Quinn
15. “He smacked the heel of his hand against his forhead, as if that could knock the mental picture out of his head. Hell, he though irritably, he didn't want to knock the image just out of his head. He wanted to send it clear across the room and out the window.” - Julia Quinn
16. “He smiled, and suddenly she knew that his words were true. Everything would be all right. Maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow, but soon. Tragedy couldn't coexist in a world with one of Colin's smiles.” - Julia Quinn
17. “James - "Are you paying attention or just trying to make me look like an idoit?"Elizabeth - "Oh, I'm definately paying attention. If you look like an idiot it has nothing to do with me.” - Julia Quinn
18. “It was heaven. Forget angels, forget St. Peter and glittering harpsichords. Heaven was a dance in the arms of one's true love.” - Julia Quinn
19. “No, Belle needed him. He had to save her from a disastrous marriage. And then, he supposed, he'd simply marry her himself.John wasn't unaware that he was about to pull one of the greatest about-faces in history. He could only hope that Belle would understand that he had realized she'd had been right all along. People made mistakes, didn't they? After all, he wasn't some infallible storybook hero.” - Julia Quinn
20. “He’d spent his life being a perfect gentleman. He’d never been a flirt. He’d never been a rogue. He hated being the center of attention, but by God, he wanted to be the center of her attention. He wanted to do the wrong thing, the bad thing. He wanted to pull her into his arms and carry her to her bed. He wanted to peel every last inch of her clothing from her body, and then he wanted to worship her. He wanted to show her all the things he wasn’t sure he knew how to say.” - Julia Quinn
21. “He blinked a few times, each motion so slow that he was never quite sure if he’d get his eyes open again. He wasn’t wearing a shirt. Funny how he was only just realizing it. Funnier still that he couldn’t seem to summon any concern for her maidenly sensibilities.She might be blushing. He couldn’t tell. It was too dark to see. But it didn’t matter. This was Honoria. She was a good egg. A sensible egg. She wouldn’t be scarred forever by the sight of his chest.” - Julia Quinn
22. “They all turned to the dark-haired woman standing quietly to the side and slightly behind Aunt Charlotte. She was, in a word, gorgeous. Everything about her was perfection, from her shiny hair to her milky-white skin. Her face was heart-shaped, her lips full and pink, and her eyelashes were so long that Honoria thought they musttouch her brows if she opened her eyes too wide.“Well,” Honoria murmured to Iris, “at least no one will be looking at us.” - Julia Quinn
23. “Honoria had a plan.It had come to her in church that morning. (The ladies went; the gentlemen somehow managed to get out of it.) It wasn’t terribly complicated; she needed only a sunny day, a halfway acceptable sense of direction, and a shovel.” - Julia Quinn
24. “Help me. Please?”She gave him an abashed nod (but not nearly soabashed as she ought) and turned to Harriet. “I think that Lord Winstead refers to the rhyming qualities of the title.” Harriet blinked a few times. “It doesn’t rhyme.”“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Elizabeth burst out. “ Finstead Winstead?”Harriet’s gasp very nearly sucked the air from the room. “I never noticed!” she exclaimed.“Obviously,” her sister drawled.“I must have been thinking about you when I wrotethe play,” Harriet said to Daniel. From her expression, he gathered he was meant to feel flattered, so he tried to smile.” - Julia Quinn
25. “Miss Wynter, I think you should be the evil queen,” Harriet said.“There’s an evil queen?” Daniel echoed. With obvious delight.“Of course,” Harriet replied. “Every good play has an evil queen.”Frances actually raised her hand. “And a un—”“Don’t say it,” Elizabeth growled.Frances crossed her eyes, put her knife to her forehead in an approximation of a horn, and neighed.” - Julia Quinn
26. “What about me?” Frances asked.“The butler,” Harriet replied without even a second of hesitation.Frances’s mouth immediately opened to protest.“No, no,” Harriet said. “It’s the best role, I promise. You get to do everything.”“Except be a unicorn,” Daniel murmured.Frances tilted her head to the side with a resigned expression.“The next play,” Harriet finally gave in. “I shall find a way to include a unicorn in the one I’m working on right now.”Frances pumped both fists in the air. “Huzzah!” - Julia Quinn
27. “Have you seen Frances?”He tilted his head to the right. “I believe she’s off rooting about in the bushes.”Anne followed his gaze uneasily.“Rooting?”“She told me she was practicing for the next play.”Anne blinked at him, not following.“For when she gets to be a unicorn.”“Oh, of course.” She chuckled. “She is rather tenacious, that one.” - Julia Quinn
28. “Oh, Daniel,” his mother exclaimed, catching him before he could make his escape, “do come join us. We’re trying to decide if Honoria should be married in lavender-blue or blue-lavender.”He opened his mouth to ask the difference, then decided against it. “Blue-lavender,” he said firmly, not having a clue as to what he was talking about.“Do you think so?” his mother responded, frowning. “I really think lavender-blue would be better.”The obvious question would have been why she’d asked his opinion in the first place, but once again, he decided that the wise man did not make such queries.” - Julia Quinn
29. “His brows rose. “And how is it that you have come to be such an expert on scrapes and bruises?”“I’m a governess,” she said. Because really, that ought to be explanation enough.” - Julia Quinn
30. “Then Elizabeth came, bearing a tray of cakes and sweets, and finally Harriet, who carried with her a small sheaf of paper—her current opus, Henry VIII and the Unicorn of Doom .“I’m not certain Frances is going to be appeased by an evil unicorn,” Anne told her.Harriet looked up with one arched brow. “She did not specify that it must be a good unicorn.”Anne grimaced. “You’re going to have a battle on your hands, that’s all I’m going to say on the matter.”Harriet shrugged, then said, “I’m going to begin in act two. Act one is a complete disaster. I’ve had to rip it completely apart.”“Because of the unicorn?”“No,” Harriet said with a grimace. “I got the order of the wives wrong. It’s divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, widowed.”“How cheerful.”Harriet gave her a bit of a look, then said, “I switched one of the divorces with a beheading.”“May I give you a bit of advice?” Anne asked.Harriet looked up.“Don’t ever let anyone hear you say that out ofcontext.” - Julia Quinn
31. “Tea?” Daniel asked, signaling to the innkeeper.“Please. Or anything that is hot.” She pulled off her gloves, pausing to frown at a little hole that was growing at the tip of her right forefinger. That wouldn’t do. She needed all the dignity she could muster in that finger.Heaven knew she shook it at the girls often enough.” - Julia Quinn
32. “Then, with a cheeky quirk of his brows, he leaned forward and murmured, “Would it be improper of me to admit that I am inordinately flattered by your attention tothe details of my face?”Anne snorted out a laugh. “Improper and ludicrous.”“It is true that I have never felt quite so colorful,” he said, with a clearly feigned sigh.“You are a veritable rainbow,” she agreed. “I see red and . . . well, no orange and yellow, but certainly green and blue and violet.”“You forgot indigo.”“I did not,” she said, with her very best governess voice. “I have always found it to be a foolish addition to the spectrum. Have you ever actually seen a rainbow?”“Once or twice,” he replied, looking rather amused by her rant.” - Julia Quinn
33. “Finally, he reached his street. It was quiet, blessedly so, and the only sound was his own groan as he lifted his foot to the first stone step at the entrance to Winstead House. The only sound, that was, until someone whispered his name.He froze. “Anne?”A figure stepped out of the shadows, trembling in the night. “Daniel,” she said again, and if she said anything more, he did not hear it. He was down the stairs in an instant, and she was in his arms, and for the first time in nearly a week, the world felt steady on its axis.” - Julia Quinn
34. “He said he loved me,” she whispered.Daniel swallowed, and he had the strangest sensation, almost a premonition of what it must like to be a parent.Someday, God willing, he’d have a daughter, and that daughter would look like the woman standing in front of him, and if ever she looked at him with that bewildered expression, whispering, “He said he loved me . . .”Nothing short of murder would be an acceptable response.” - Julia Quinn
35. “I--" She swallowed, perhaps summoning her courage, then continued, "I would not lie to you and say that I did not want this.""Me," he cut in peevishly. "You wanted me."She closed her eyes. “Yes,” she finally said, “I wanted you.”Part of him wanted to interrupt again, to remind her that she still wanted him, that it wasn’t and would never be in the past.“But I can’t have you,” she said quietly, “and because of that, you can’t have me.”And then, to his complete astonishment, he asked, “What if I married you?” - Julia Quinn
36. “Hyacinth,” Lady Bridgerton said in a vaguely disapproving voice, “do try to speak in complete sentences.”Hyacinth looked at her mother with a surprised expression. “Biscuits. Are. Good.” She cocked her head to the side. “Noun. Verb. Adjective.”“Hyacinth.”“Noun. Verb. Adjective.” Colin said, wiping a crumb from his grinning face. “Sentence. Is. Correct.” - Julia Quinn
37. “Do I look like a mess?” she asked.He nodded. “But you’re my mess,” he whispered.” - Julia Quinn
38. “Just be quiet and accept the praise.” - Julia Quinn
39. “Happy endings are all I can do. I wouldn't know how to write anything else.” - Julia Quinn
40. “Daphne felt something wild and wicked take hold. “Let’s walk in the garden,” she said softly.“We can’t.”“We must.”“We can’t.” - Julia Quinn
41. “I would give the world to have one more person for whom I would lay down my life.” - Julia Quinn
42. “‘If you want to know if a gentleman loves you,’ her mother said, ‘there is only one true way to be sure.’”Lady Danbury leaned forward. Even Hyacinth leaned forward, and she was holding the book.“‘It’s in his kiss,’ her mother whispered. ‘It’s all there, in his kiss.’” - Julia Quinn
43. “Gareth?” Hyacinth said softly.He turned to her, wondering how long he’d been standing there, pondering his options. “Hyacinth,” he said.She looked at him expectantly.“Hyacinth,” he said again, this time with a bit more certitude. He smiled, letting his eyes melt into hers. “Hyacinth.”“We know her name,” came his grandmother’s voice.Gareth ignored her and pushed a table aside so that he could drop to one knee. “Hyacinth,” he said, relishing her gasp as he took her hand in his, “would you do me the very great honor of becoming my wife?”Her eyes widened, then misted, and her lips, which he’d been kissing so deliciously mere hours earlier, began to quiver. “I…I…”It was unlike her to be so without words, and he was enjoying it, especially the show of emotion on her face.“I…I…”“Yes!” his grandmother finally yelled. “Yes! She’ll marry you!”“She can speak for herself,” he said.“No,” Lady D said, “she can’t. Quite obviously.” - Julia Quinn
44. “You’re going to be my grandmother.”“You silly child. In my heart, I’ve been your grandmother for years. I’ve just been waiting for you to make it official.” - Julia Quinn
45. “No one said we had to spend every waking moment together, but at the end of the day and most of the time during, there is no one I would rather see, no one whose voice I would rather hear, and no one whose mind I would rather explore. I love you, Hyacinth Bridgerton. And I always will.” - Julia Quinn
46. “You should do that more often,” he said. “Laugh, I mean.”“I know.” But that sounded sad, and she didn’t want to be sad, so she added, “I don’t often get to torture grown men, though.”“Really?” he murmured. “I would think you do it all the time.”She looked at him.“When you walk into a room,” he said softly, “the air changes.” - Julia Quinn
47. “Full lips are better for kissing.” - Julia Quinn
48. “I've always thought that violet ribbons look especially nice with brown hair.” - Julia Quinn
49. “I just -- I know my own heart and I love you, Turner. And if you have even the tiniest shred of decency, you'll say something because I've said everything I possibly can, and I can't bear the silence, and -- oh for heaven's sake! Will you at least blink?"He couldn't even manage that.” - Julia Quinn
50. “You'll marry the earl and carry on with the nephew on the side.""Grandmother!” - Julia Quinn
51. “You've already danced with him," Louisa said.Annabel nodded. "I know.""People will talk."Annabel turned and blinked, trying to set her cousin's face into focus. "People are already talking," she said.Louisa opened her mouth as if she planned to say more, but then she just smiled. "Annabel Winslow," she said softly, "I do believe you are falling in love."That snapped Annabel right out of her daze. "I'm not.""Oh, you are.""I hardly know him.""Apparently you know enough.” - Julia Quinn
52. “I think your eyes might be the exact same color as mine," she said wonderingly."What fine gray-eyed babies we shall have," he said, before he thought the better of it.” - Julia Quinn
53. “Annabel stared at the door, then turned to Sebastian, feeling quite dazed. "I think my grandmother may have just given me permission to ruin myself.""I'll do all the ruining tonight," he said with a grin. "If you don't mind.” - Julia Quinn
54. “What are you doing here?"Lady Vickers asked, turning her frosty glare to Sebastian."Exactly what you think, my lady," he said.” - Julia Quinn
55. “I vow to spend the rest of my life keeping your hands and feet warm.” - Julia Quinn
56. “You'll lose your audience and then where will we be? We have future gray-eyed babies to feed, you know.” - Julia Quinn
