The Quotes canon
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Browse all 10,075 quotes or apply filters in different categories to narrow your search.
Browse all 10,075 quotes or apply filters in different categories to narrow your search.
Falling in love3 quotes
To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love. — Jane Austen · 1813I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun. — Jane Austen · 1813A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony, in a moment. — Jane Austen · 1813Men and women3 quotes
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. — Jane Austen · 1813I expect that Woman will be the last thing civilized by Man. — George Meredith · 1859One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other. — Jane Austen · 1816Misanthropy3 quotes
The sooner every party breaks up, the better. — Jane Austen · 1816The folly of people's not staying comfortably at home when they can!... Five dull hours in another man's house, with nothing to say or to hear that was not said and heard yesterday, and may not be said and heard again to-morrow... Four horses and four servants taken out for nothing but to convey five idle, shivering creatures into colder rooms and worse company than they might have had at home. — Jane Austen · 1816I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal. — Jane Austen · 1798Books2 quotes
There is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book! — Jane Austen · 1813If a book is well written, I always find it too short. — Jane Austen · 1817Effects of time2 quotes
Death! great proprietor of all! 'tis thine
To tread out empire, and to quench the stars. — Edward Young · 1742Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day. — Isaac Watts · 1719Forgiveness2 quotes
You ought certainly to forgive them as a Christian, but never to admit them in your sight, or allow their names to be mentioned in your hearing. — Jane Austen · 1813I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine. — Jane Austen · 1813Gender relations2 quotes
I expect that Woman will be the last thing civilized by Man. — George Meredith · 1859One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other. — Jane Austen · 1816Marriage2 quotes
Without thinking highly either of men or of matrimony, marriage had always been her object; it was the only honourable provision for well-educated young women of small fortune, and, however uncertain of giving happiness, must be their pleasantest preservative from want. — Jane Austen · 1813Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. — Jane Austen · 1813Parties2 quotes
The sooner every party breaks up, the better. — Jane Austen · 1816The folly of people's not staying comfortably at home when they can!... Five dull hours in another man's house, with nothing to say or to hear that was not said and heard yesterday, and may not be said and heard again to-morrow... Four horses and four servants taken out for nothing but to convey five idle, shivering creatures into colder rooms and worse company than they might have had at home. — Jane Austen · 1816Political theory2 quotes
The secular State is the guarantee of religious pluralism. This apparent paradox, again, is the simplest and most elegant of political truths. — Christopher Hitchens · 1998It's worth remembering this: freedom of expression sustains all the other freedoms we enjoy. — Ian McEwan · 2015Politics2 quotes
There are times, perhaps once every thirty years, when there is a sea-change in politics. It then does not matter what you say or what you do. There is a shift in what the public wants and what it approves of. I suspect there is now such a sea-change-and it is for Mrs. Thatcher. — James Callaghan · 1979It's worth remembering this: freedom of expression sustains all the other freedoms we enjoy. — Ian McEwan · 2015Pride2 quotes
I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine. — Jane Austen · 1813Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us. — Jane Austen · 1813Time2 quotes
Procrastination is the thief of time. — Edward Young · 1742Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day. — Isaac Watts · 1719Women2 quotes
What a woman thinks of women is the test of her nature. — George Meredith · 1885I expect that Woman will be the last thing civilized by Man. — George Meredith · 1859Acquiring wisdom1 quote
Be wise with speed;
A fool at forty is a fool indeed. — Edward Young · 1726Being in love1 quote
I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun. — Jane Austen · 1813Birth of Jesus1 quote
Joy to the world! the lord is come;
Let earth receive her King.
Let ev'ry heart prepare Him room,
And heav'n and nature sing. — Isaac Watts · 1719Changing oneself1 quote
At thirty, Man suspects himself a fool;
Knows it at forty, and reforms his plan;
At fifty chides his infamous delay,
Pushes his prudent purpose to resolve;
In all the magnanimity of thought
Resolves; and re-resolves; then dies the same. — Edward Young · 1742Church and state1 quote
The secular State is the guarantee of religious pluralism. This apparent paradox, again, is the simplest and most elegant of political truths. — Christopher Hitchens · 1998Cities1 quote
We do not look in great cities for our best morality. — Jane Austen · 1814Connecting with others1 quote
It is not time or opportunity that is to determine intimacy; it is disposition alone. Seven years would be insufficient to make some people acquainted with each other, and seven days are more than enough for others. — Jane Austen · 1811Custom and convention1 quote
One man’s ways may be as good as another’s, but we all like our own best. — Jane Austen · 1817Dancing1 quote
To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love. — Jane Austen · 1813Death1 quote
Death is certain, replacing both the siren-song of Paradise and the dread of Hell. Life on this earth, with all its mystery and beauty and pain, is then to be lived far more intensely: we stumble and get up, we are sad, confident, insecure, feel loneliness and joy and love. There is nothing more; but I want nothing more. — Christopher Hitchens · 2007Debbie Downer1 quote
Surprizes are foolish things. The pleasure is not enhanced, and the inconvenience is often considerable. — Jane Austen · 1816Decline of religion1 quote
Many religions now come before us with ingratiating smirks and outspread hands, like an unctuous merchant in a bazaar. They offer consolation and solidarity and uplift, competing as they do in a marketplace. But we have a right to remember how barbarically they behaved when they were strong and were making an offer that people could not refuse. — Christopher Hitchens · 2007Evidence1 quote
What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence. — Christopher Hitchens · 2007Freedom1 quote
It's worth remembering this: freedom of expression sustains all the other freedoms we enjoy. — Ian McEwan · 2015Freedom of religion1 quote
The secular State is the guarantee of religious pluralism. This apparent paradox, again, is the simplest and most elegant of political truths. — Christopher Hitchens · 1998