Quotes by Louisa May Alcott

She is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain.

Some books are so familiar that reading them is like being home again.

Keep good company, read good books, love good things and cultivate soul and body as faithfully as you can

…books are always good company if you have the right sort. Let me pick out some for you. And Mrs. Jo made a bee-line to the well-laden shelves, which were the joy of her heart and the comfort of her life.

She is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain

I shall keep my book on the table here, and read a little every morning as soon as I wake, for I know it will do me good, and help me through the day.

…having learned that people cannot be moulded like clay…

Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.

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.

…what splendid dreams young people build upon a word, and how bitter is the pain when the bright bubbles burst.

I wish I had a horse; then I could run for miles in this splendid air, and not lose my breath. Jo

In her secret soul, however, she decided that politics were as bad as mathematics, and that the mission of politicians seemed to be calling each other names…

Dont 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 Gods 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.

The emerging woman ... will be strong-minded, strong-hearted, strong-souled, and strong-bodied...strength and beauty must go together.

Right Jo better be happy old maids than unhappy wives or unmaidenly girls running about to find husbands.

Gentlemen, be courteous to the old maids, no matter how poor and plain and prim, for the only chivalry worth having is that which is the readiest to to pay deference to the old, protect the feeble, and serve womankind, regardless of rank, age, or color.

…on some occasions, women, like dreams, go by contraries.

…proved that woman isnt a half but a whole human being, and can stand alone.

It is a merciful provision my dears, for it takes three or four women to get each man into, through, and out of the world. You are costly creatures, boys, and it is well that mothers, sisters, wives, and daughters love their duty and do it so well, or you would perish off the face of the earth, said Mrs. Jo solemnly…

…Im always ready to talk, shouldnt be a woman if I were not, laughed Mrs. Jo…