"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."
“I like good strong words that mean something…”
"Watch and pray, dear, never get tired of trying, and never think it is impossible to conquer your fault."
“I'd rather take coffee than compliments just now.”
"Don't try and make me grow up before my time."
“There are many Beths in the world, shy and quiet, sitting in corners till needed, and living for others so cheerfully that no one sees the sacrifices till the little cricket on the hearth stops chirping, and the sweet, sunshiny presence vanishes, leaving silence and shadow behind.”
"I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship."
“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.”
"I've got the key to my castle in the air, but whether I can unlock the door remains to be seen."
“…she'll go and fall in love, and there's an end of peace and fun, and cozy times together.”
“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.”
"Be worthy love, and love will come."
“I don't like favors; they oppress and make me fell like a slave. I'd rather do everything for myself, and be perfectly independent.”
"You are the gull, Jo, strong and wild, fond of the storm and the wind, flying far out to sea, and happy all alone."
“I do think that families are the most beautiful things in all the world!”
"I never wanted to go away, and the hard part is leaving you all. I'm not afraid, but it seems as if I should be homesick for you even in heaven."
“Don't laugh at the spinsters, dear girls, for often very tender, tragic romances are hidden away in the hearts that beat so quietly under the sober gowns, and many silent sacrifices of youth, health, ambition, love itself, make the faded faces beautiful in God's sight. Even the sad, sour sisters should be kindly dealt with, because they have missed the sweetest part of life, if for no other reason.”
“I want to do something splendid...something heroic or wonderful that won't be forgotten after I'm dead. I don't know what, but I'm on the watch for it and mean to astonish you all someday.”
“Love is a great beautifier.”
“...for love casts out fear, and gratitude can conquer pride.”
“Women, they have minds, and they have souls, as well as just hearts. And they’ve got ambition, and they’ve got talent, as well as just beauty. I’m so sick of people saying that love is all a woman is fit for.”
“Let us be elegant or die!”
“Have regular hours for work and play; make each day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well. Then youth will bring few regrets, and life will become a beautiful success.”
“Because they are mean is no reason why I should be. I hate such things, and though I think I've a right to be hurt, I don't intend to show it. (Amy March)”
“You don’t need scores of suitors. You need only one… if he’s the right one.”
“Some people seemed to get all sunshine, and some all shadow…”
“Be comforted, dear soul! There is always light behind the clouds.”
“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)”
“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”
“I don't pretend to be wise, but I am observing, and I see a great deal more than you'd imagine. I'm interested in other people's experiences and inconsistencies, and, though I can't explain, I remember and use them for my own benefit.”
“…because talent isn't genius, and no amount of energy can make it so. I want to be great, or nothing.”
“Conceit spoils the finest genius.”
“...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.”
“Every few weeks she would shut herself up in her room, put on her scribbling suit, and fall into a vortex, as she expressed it, writing away at her novel with all her heart and soul, for till that was finished she could find no peace.”
“Jo had learned that hearts, like flowers, cannot be rudely handled, but must open naturally…”
“I wish I had no heart, it aches so…”
“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.”
“I have nothing to give but my heart so full and these empty hands."
"They're not empty now.”
“I am lonely, sometimes, but I dare say it's good for me…”
“When we make little sacrifices we like to have them appreciated, at least…”
“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.”
“life and love are very precious when both are in full bloom.”
“The humblest tasks get beautified if loving hands do them.”
“Wouldn't it be fun if all the castles in the air which we make could come true and we could live in them?”
“…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.”
“I could have been a great many things.”
“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.”
“...and best of all, the wilderness of books, in which she could wander, where she liked, made the library a region of bliss to her.”
“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 hate ordinary people!”
“…marriage, they say, halves one's rights and doubles one's duties.”