2. “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.” – Jo March
3. “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.” – Jo March
4. “It seems I could do anything when I’m passionate. I get so savage, I could hurt anyone and enjoy it.” – Jo March
5. “I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.” – Amy March
6. “Watch and pray, dear, never get tired of trying, and never think it is impossible to conquer your faults.” – Mrs. March
7. “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.” – Jo March
8. “I’m just a woman. And as a woman, I have no way to make money, not enough to earn a living and support my family. Even if I had my own money, which I don’t, it would belong to my husband the minute we were married. If we had children they would belong to him, not me. They would be his property. So don’t sit there and tell me that marriage isn’t an economic proposition, because it is.” – Amy March
9. “Life is too short to be angry at one’s sisters.” – Jo March
10. “I’m not ambitious for a splendid fortune, but I know, by experience, how much genuine happiness can be had in a plain little house, where the daily bread is earned, and some privations give sweetness to the few pleasures.” – Meg March
11. “Money is a needful and precious thing, and when well used, a noble thing—but I never want you to think it is the first or only prize to strive for. I’d rather see you poor men’s wives, if you were happy, beloved, contented, than on thrones, without self- respect and peace.” – Mrs. March
12. “When you feel discontented, think over your blessings, and be grateful.” – Meg March
13. “I do think that families are the most beautiful things in all the world!” – Jo March
14. “You will be bored of him in two years and we will be interesting forever.” – Jo March
15. “I could never love anyone as I love my sisters.” – Jo March
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16. “My dear girls, I am ambitious for you, but not to have you make a dash in the world, marry rich men merely because they are rich, or have splendid houses, which are not homes because love is wanting.” – Mrs. March
17. “Don’t try to make me grow up before my time, Meg.” – Jo March
18. “I’d rather take coffee than compliments just now.” – Amy March
19. “You are the gull, Jo, strong and wild, fond of the storm and the wind, flying far out to sea, and happy all alone. Meg is the turtle-dove, and Amy is like the lark she writes about, trying to get up among the clouds, but always dropping down into its nest again. Dear little girl! She’s so ambitious, but her heart is good and tender, and no matter how high she flies, she never will forget home. I hope I shall see her again.” – Beth March
20. “Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents.” – Jo March
21. “You have a good many little gifts and virtues, but there is no need of parading them, for conceit spoils the finest genius. There is not much danger that real talent or goodness will be overlooked long; even if it is, the consciousness of possessing and using it well should satisfy one, and the great charm of all power is modesty.” – Mrs. March
22. “I like good, strong words that mean something.” – Jo March
23. “You don’t need scores of suitors. You need only one, if he’s the right one.” – Amy March
24. “The world is hard on ambitious girls.” – Amy March
25. “I intend to make my own way in the world.” – Jo March
26. “Writing doesn’t confer importance, it reflects it.” – Jo March
27. “Just because my dreams are different than yours, it doesn’t mean they’re unimportant.” – Meg March
28. “I care more to be loved. I want to be loved.” – Jo March
29. “I am angry nearly every day of my life.” – Mrs. March
30. “I may not always be right. But I am never wrong.” – Aunt March
Related:
31. “I believe we have power over who we love. It isn’t something that just happens to a person.” – Amy March
32. “The humblest tasks get beautified if loving hands do them.” – Jo March
33. “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. He helped and comforted me, and showed me that I must try to practice all the virtues I would have my little girls possess, for I was their example. It was easier to try for your sake than for my own. A startled or surprised look from one of you when I spoke sharply rebuked me more than any words could have done, and 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.” – Mrs. March
34. “My child, the troubles and temptations of your life are beginning, and may be many; but you can overcome and outlive them all if you learn to feel the strength and tenderness of your Heavenly Father as you do that of your earthly one. The more you love and trust Him, the nearer you will feel to Him, and the less you will depend on human power and wisdom. His love and care never tire or change, can never be taken from you, but may become the source of lifelong peace, happiness, and strength. Believe this heartily, and go to God with all your little cares, and hopes, and sins, and sorrows, as freely and confidingly as you come to your mother.” – Mrs. March
35. “Be comforted, dear soul! There is always light behind the clouds.” – Mrs. March
36. “Girls have to go out into the world and make up their own minds about things.” – Mrs. March
37. “Why be ashamed of what you want?” – Amy March
38. “Jo, don’t let the sun go down on your anger. Forgive her. Help each other. And you begin again tomorrow.” – Mrs. March
39. “Don’t cry so bitterly, but remember this day, and resolve with all your soul that you will never know another like it.” – Mrs. March
40. “Aim at the highest, and never mind the money.” – Mr. March
41. “Talent isn’t genius, and no amount of energy can make it so. I want to be great, or nothing.” – Amy March
42. “I’d have a stable full of Arabian steeds, rooms piled with books, and I’d write out of a magic inkstand, so that my works should be as famous as Laurie’s music. I want to do something splendid before I go into my castle, 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, some day. I think I shall write books, and get rich and famous; that would suit me, so that is my favorite dream.” – Jo March
43. “I don’t like to doze by the fire. I like adventures and I am going to find some.” – Jo March
44. “Helping one another is part of the religion of our sisterhood.” – Jo March
45. “I find it poor logic to say that because women are good, women should vote. Men do not vote because they are good, they vote because they are male, and women should vote, not because we are angels and men are animals, but because we are human beings and citizens of this country.” – Jo March
46. “You laugh at me when I say I want to be a lady, but I mean a true gentlewoman in mind and manners, and I try to do it as far as I know how. I can’t explain exactly, but I want to be above the little meannesses and follies and faults that spoil so many women.” – Amy March
47. “Learn to know and value the praise which is worth having, and to excite the admiration of excellent people by being modest as well as pretty, Meg.” – Mrs. March
48. “I try to be contented, but it is hard. I’m tired of being poor.” – Meg March
49. “With all these good things to enjoy, you can find nothing to do but dawdle.” – Amy March
50. “If he is old enough to ask the question, he is old enough to receive true answers. I am not putting the thoughts into his head, but helping him unfold those already there. These children are wiser than we are.” – Mr. March
51. “It is possible to be right and foolish.” – Aunt March
52. “I can’t afford to starve on praise.” – Jo March
53. “I am lonely sometimes, but I dare say it’s good for me.” – Jo March
54. “If we are all alive 10 years hence, let’s meet, and see how many of us have got our wishes, or how much nearer we are then than now.” – Jo March
55. “No, I’d be respected if I couldn’t be loved.” – Amy March
56. “If I’m going to sell my heroine into marriage for money, I might as well get some of it.” – Jo March
57. “I will not be the person you settle for just because you can’t have her.” – Amy March
58. “Try it and see. You needn’t shrug your shoulders, and think, ‘Much she knows about such things.’ 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. 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. There, I won’t lecture any more, for I know you’ll wake up and be a man in spite of that hardhearted girl.” – Amy March
59. “I’d rather be a free spinster and paddle my own canoe.” – Jo March
60. “I don’t believe I will ever marry. I’m happy as I am. And I love my liberty too well to be in any hurry to give it up.” – Jo March
61. “I’ve never understood saving jewelry until marriage. You should have something that’s just yours. Pretty things should be enjoyed.” – Mrs. March
62. “I don’t want a fashionable wedding, but only those about me whom I love, and to them I wish to look and be my familiar self.” – Meg March
63. “Don’t neglect the husband for children, don’t shut him out of the nursery, but teach him how to help in it. His place is there as well as yours, and the children need him. Let him feel that he has a part to do, and he will do it gladly and faithfully, and it will be better for you all.” – Mrs. March
64. “We can’t give up our girls for a dozen fortunes. Rich or poor, we will keep together and be happy in one another.” – Mrs. March
65. “That is the secret of our home happiness. He does not let business wean him from the little cares and duties that affect us all, and I try not to let domestic worries destroy my interest in his pursuits. Each do our part alone in many things, but at home we work together, always.” – Mrs. March
66. “By-and-by we shall take turns, for marriage, they say, halves one’s rights and doubles one’s duties.” – Theodore Laurence
67. “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
68. “Thank God you’re home! Now I can be angry with you in person.” – Mrs. March
69. “I only do that for us. I don’t need anyone else to hear it.” – Beth March
70. “For with eyes made clear by many tears, and a heart softened by the tenderest sorrow, she recognized the beauty of her sister’s life—uneventful, unambitious, yet full of the genuine virtues which smell sweet, and blossom in the dust, the self-forgetfulness that makes the humblest on earth remembered soonest in heaven, the true success which is possible to all.” – Beth March
71. “I hope you’ll do a great deal better than me. There are some natures too noble to curb, and too lofty to bend.” – Mrs. March
72. “Don’t mind me. I’m as happy as a cricket here.” – Mrs. March
73. “Girls are so queer you never know what they mean. They say no when they mean yes, and drive a man out of his wits just for the fun of it.” – Theodore Laurence
74. “I almost wish I hadn’t any conscience, it’s so inconvenient. If I didn’t care about doing right, and didn’t feel uncomfortable when doing wrong, I should get on capitally.” – Jo March
75. “I saw a good many talented young fellows making all sorts of sacrifices, and enduring real hardships, that they might realize their dreams. Splendid fellows, some of them, working like heroes, poor and friendless, but so full of courage, patience, and ambition that I was ashamed of myself, and longed to give them a right good lift. Those are people whom it’s a satisfaction to help, for if they’ve got genius, it’s an honor to be allowed to serve them, and not let it be lost or delayed for want of fuel to keep the pot boiling. If they haven’t, it’s a pleasure to comfort the poor souls, and keep them from despair when they find it out.” – Theodore Laurence
76. “The sincere wish to be good is half the battle.” – Mrs. March
77. “So she enjoyed herself heartily, and found, what isn’t always the case, that her granted wish was all she had hoped.” – Beth March
78. “There is truth in it, Jo, that’s the secret. Humor and pathos make it alive, and you have found your style at last. You wrote with no thoughts of fame and money, and put your heart into it, . You have had the bitter, now comes the sweet. Do your best, and grow as happy as we are in your success.” – Mrs. March
79. “Tomorrow I shall put away my ‘fuss and feathers,’ and be desperately good again.” – Meg March
80. “Time erodes such beauty, but what it cannot diminish is the wonderful workings of your mind—your humor, your kindness, and your moral courage.” – Mrs. March
81. “Go on with your work as usual, for work is a blessed solace.” – Mrs. March
82. “Ambitious girls have a hard time, Laurie, and often have to see youth, health, and precious opportunities go by, just for want of a little help at the right minute.” – Amy March
83. “We are never too old for this, my dear, because it is a play we are playing all the time in one way or another. Our burdens are here, our road is before us, and the longing for goodness and happiness is the guide that leads us through many troubles and mistakes to the peace which is a true Celestial City. Now, my little pilgrims, suppose you begin again, not in play, but in earnest, and see how far you can get before Father comes home.” – Mrs. March
84. “People have been very kind to me, and whenever I see girls struggling along, as we used to do, I want to put out my hand and help them, as I was helped.” – Amy March
85. “Don’t you feel that it is pleasanter to help one another, to have daily duties which make leisure sweet when it comes, and to bear and forbear, that home may be comfortable and lovely to us all?” – Amy March
86. “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.” – Jo March
87. “I don’t like favors; they oppress and make me feel like a slave. I’d rather do everything for myself, and be perfectly independent.” – Jo March
88. “I’ve loved you ever since I’ve known you, Jo, couldn’t help it, you’ve been so good to me. I’ve tried to show it, but you wouldn’t let me; now I’m going to make you hear, and give me an answer, for I can’t go on so any longer.” – Theodore Laurence
89. “We’ll all grow up someday, Meg, we might as well know what we want.” – Amy March
90. “Yes, she does it very prettily, and never seems to go too far. I suppose it’s natural to some people to please without trying, and others to always say and do the wrong thing in the wrong place.” – Jo March
91. “Go out more, keep cheerful as well as busy, for you are the sunshine-maker of the family, and if you get dismal there is no fair weather.” – Mrs. March
Little Women Quotes by the Author
92. “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.” – Louisa May Alcott, Author
93. “Love is a great beautifier.” – Louisa May Alcott, Author
94. “Be worthy, love, and love will come.” – Louisa May Alcott, Author
95. “Let us be elegant or die!” – Louisa May Alcott, Author
96. “Some people seemed to get all sunshine, and some all shadows.” – Louisa May Alcott, Author
97. “Love casts out fear, and gratitude can conquer pride.” – Louisa May Alcott, Author
98. “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.” – Louisa May Alcott, Author
99. “Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.” – Louisa May Alcott, Author
100. “When we make little sacrifices we like to have them appreciated, at least.” – Louisa May Alcott, Author
101. “I like to help women help themselves, as that is, in my opinion, the best way to settle the woman question. Whatever we can do and do well we have a right to, and I don’t think anyone will deny us.” – Louisa May Alcott, Author
102. “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.” – Louisa May Alcott, Author
103. “Beauty, youth, good fortune, even love itself, cannot keep care and pain, loss and sorrow, from the most blessed for into each life some rain must fall, some days must be dark and sad and dreary.” – Louisa May Alcott, Author
104. “John Brooke did his duty manfully for a year, got wounded, was sent home, and not allowed to return. He received no stars or bars, but he deserved them, for he cheerfully risked all he had, and life and love are very precious when both are in full bloom.” – Louisa May Alcott, Author
105. “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.” – Louisa May Alcott, Author
106. “Poor Meg seldom complained, but a sense of injustice made her feel bitter toward everyone sometimes, for she had not yet learned to know how rich she was in the blessings which alone can make life happy.” – Louisa May Alcott, Author
107. “Now and then, in this workaday world, things do happen in the delightful storybook fashion, and what a comfort it is.” – Louisa May Alcott, Author
108. “I have nothing to give but my heart so full and these empty hands.” – Louisa May Alcott, Author
109. “Jo’s eyes sparkled, for it’s always pleasant to be believed in, and a friend’s praise is always sweeter than a dozen newspaper puffs.” – Louisa May Alcott, Author
110. “She preferred imaginary heroes to real ones, because when tired of them, the former could be shut up in the tin till called for, and the latter were less manageable.” – Louisa May Alcott, Author
111. “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.” – Louisa May Alcott, Author
112. “I could have been a great many things.” – Louisa May Alcott, Author
113. “Led by her mother’s hand, she had drawn nearer to the friend who always welcomes every child with a love stronger than that of any father, tenderer than that of any mother.” – Louisa May Alcott, Author
114. “Jo had learned that hearts, like flowers, cannot be rudely handled, but must open naturally.” – Louisa May Alcott, Author
115. “The girls gave their hearts into their mother’s keeping, their souls into their father’s; and to both parents, who lived and labored so faithfully for them, they gave a love that grew with their growth, and bound them tenderly together by the sweetest tie which blesses life and outlives death.” – Louisa May Alcott, Author
116. “Wealth is certainly a most desirable thing, but poverty has its sunny side, and one of the sweet uses of adversity is the genuine satisfaction which comes from hearty work of head or hand, and to the inspiration of necessity, we owe half the wise, beautiful, and useful blessings of the world.” – Louisa May Alcott, Author
117. “Simple, sincere people seldom speak much of their piety; it shows itself in acts rather than words, and has more influence than homilies or protestations.” – Louisa May Alcott, Author
118. “Dear me! If only men and women would trust, understand and help as my children do, what a capital place the world would be!” – Louisa May Alcott, Author
119. “Love will make you show your heart someday.” – Louisa May Alcott, Author
120. “The dirt is picturesque, so I don’t mind.” – Louisa May Alcott, Author
