Here is a compilation of sharp, witty, and insightful quotes from Jane Austen, the cherished English novelist renowned for her astute observations on human nature, love, relationships, and society:

On Love and Relationships:

1. “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” – Pride and Prejudice

2. “There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart.” – Sense and Sensibility

3. “You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.” – Pride and Prejudice

4. “We are all fools in love.” – Pride and Prejudice

5. “If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.” – Emma

6. “I am half agony, half hope.” – Persuasion

7. “To love is to burn, to be on fire.” – Sense and Sensibility

8. “A lady’s imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.” – Pride and Prejudice

On Marriage:

9. “Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance.” – Pride and Prejudice

10. “It is always incomprehensible to a man that a woman should ever refuse an offer of marriage.” – Emma

11. “A woman, especially, if she have the misfortune of knowing anything, should conceal it as well as she can.” – Northanger Abbey

12. “A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of.” – Mansfield Park

13. “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.” – Sense and Sensibility

On Society and Class:

14. “For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn?” – Pride and Prejudice

15. “The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.” – Northanger Abbey

16. “One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other.” – Emma

17. “Vanity 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.” – Pride and Prejudice

18. “There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.” – Emma

19. “To sit in the shade on a fine day, and look upon verdure, is the most perfect refreshment.” – Mansfield Park

On Women and Independence:

20. “I hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies instead of rational creatures. None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives.” – Persuasion

21. “Give a girl an education and introduce her properly into the world, and ten to one but she has the means of settling well, without further expense to anybody.” – Mansfield Park

22. “Men have had every advantage of us in telling their own story. Education has been theirs in so much higher a degree; the pen has been in their hands.” – Persuasion

23. “Single women have a dreadful propensity for being poor, which is one very strong argument in favor of matrimony.” – Emma

24. “A woman, especially, if she have the misfortune of knowing anything, should conceal it as well as she can.” – Northanger Abbey

On Wit and Humor:

25. “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book!” – Pride and Prejudice

26. “It isn’t what we say or think that defines us, but what we do.” – Sense and Sensibility

27. “What are men to rocks and mountains?” – Pride and Prejudice

28. “I am very much obliged to you,” said Elizabeth, “but I am perfectly serious in my refusal. You could not make me happy, and I am convinced that I am the last woman in the world who would make you so.” – Pride and Prejudice

29. “I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal.” – Jane Austen’s Letters

30. “There are people, who the more you do for them, the less they will do for themselves.” – Emma

31. “I always deserve the best treatment because I never put up with any other.” – Emma

On Human Nature:

32. “There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.” – Pride and Prejudice

33. “One man’s ways may be as good as another’s, but we all like our own best.” – Persuasion

34. “Selfishness must always be forgiven, you know, because there is no hope of a cure.” – Mansfield Park

35. “I may have lost my heart, but not my self-control.” – Emma

36. “Nobody minds having what is too good for them.” – Mansfield Park

37. “You must learn some of my philosophy. Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure.” – Pride and Prejudice

38. “There is something so amiable in the prejudices of a young mind, that one is sorry to see them give way to the reception of more general opinions.” – Pride and Prejudice

On Happiness and Contentment:

39. “It isn’t what we say or think that defines us, but what we do.” – Sense and Sensibility

40. “To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love.” – Pride and Prejudice

41. “Ah! There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.” – Emma

42. “You must be the best judge of your own happiness.” – Emma

Jane Austen’s writing encapsulates the intricacies of love, society, and human nature with grace, humor, and enduring insight. Her quotes remain impactful due to their incisive social commentary and relatable emotions.