“Luck which so often defies anticipation in matrimonial affairs, giving attraction to what is moderate rather than to what is superior.”

“It was for the sake of what had been, rather than what was.”

“That is what I like; that is what a young man ought to be. Whatever be his pursuits, his eagerness in them should know no moderation, and leave him no sense of fatigue.”

“Elizabeth could never address her without feeling that all the comfort of intimacy was over, and, though determined not to slacken as a correspondent, it was for the sake of what had been, rather than what was.”

“whenever you are transplanted, like me, Miss Woodhouse, you will understand how very delightful it is to meet with anything at all like what one has left behind. I always say this is quite one of the evils of matrimony.”

“Single women have a dreadful propensity for being poor...which is one very strong argument in favour of matrimony...Quote from a Jane Austen Letter 13 March, 1817”

“... But he recommended the books which charmed her leisure hours, he encouraged her taste, and corrected her judgment; he made reading useful by talking to her of what she read, and heightened its attraction by judicious praise.”