There can be no child who has grown up without having read Louisa May Alcott. Proudly remembered as the novelist of the children, Louisa May Alcott was an American writer, novelist and poet who is till date reminisced as the author of the famous children’s book ‘Little Women’. The novel is loosely based on Alcott’s childhood experience and is set around her family home, Hillside in Concord Massachusetts. It describes the domestic adventures of a New England family of modest means but optimistic outlook. The book traces the differing personalities and fortunes of four sisters from their childhood to adult age. Other than being a children’s writer, Alcott was an abolitionist and feminist and made her later works as a platform for sharing her ideals, vision and beliefs. Through it, she elevated the status of women in society and depicted them as strong individuals who were self-reliant and had a voice and opinion of their own. They were imaginative but at the same time level-headed and opinionated. Like Alcott’s literary work, her quotes too reflected the vision and belief of her life. They are inspiring and motivational and give a new outlook to ponder about. With this section, find out some of the best quotes by Louisa May Alcott.
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.
A faithful friend is a strong defense;
And he that hath found him hath found a treasure.
Louisa May Alcott
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.
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.
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)
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.
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)
Some people seemed to get all sunshine, and some all shadow…
Louisa May Alcott
Conceit spoils the finest genius.
Louisa May Alcott
Wild roses are fairest, and nature a better gardener than art.
Louisa May Alcott
Love is a flower that grows in any soil, works its sweet miracles undaunted by autumn frost or winter snow, blooming fair and fragrant all the year, and blessing those who give and those who receive.
Simple, genuine goodness is the best capital to found the business of this life upon. It lasts when fame and money fail, and is the only riches we can take out of this world with us.
A real gentleman is as polite to a little girl as to a woman.
Louisa May Alcott
Be comforted, dear soul! There is always light behind the clouds.
Louisa May Alcott
She preferred imaginary heroes to real ones, because when tired of them, the former could be shut up in the tin kitchen till called for, and the latter were less manageable.
Louisa May Alcott
Love is the only thing that we can carry with us when we go, and it makes the end so easy.
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.
Painful as it may be, a significant emotional event can be the catalyst for choosing a direction that serves us - and those around us - more effectively. Look for the learning.
Louisa May Alcott
Nothing is impossible to a determined woman.
Louisa May Alcott
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.
…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.
Louisa May Alcott
I have nothing to give but my heart so full and these empty hands."
"They're not empty now.
You have grown abominably lazy, and you like gossip, and waste time on frivolous things, you are contented to be petted and admired by silly people, instead of being loved and respected by wise ones.
I never wanted to go away, and the hard part now is the leaving you all. I'm not afraid, but it seems as if I should be homesick for you even in heaven.
You are like a chestnut burr, prickly outside, but silky-soft within, and a sweet kernel, if one can only get at it. Love will make you show your heart some day, and then the rough burr will fall off.
It takes so little to make a child happy, that it is a pity in a world full of sunshine and pleasant things, that there should be any wistful faces, empty hands, or lonely little hearts.
Louisa May Alcott
The humblest tasks get beautified if loving hands do them.
Louisa May Alcott
Now and then, in this workaday world, things do happen in the delightful storybook fashion, and what a comfort that is.
Louisa May Alcott
If I didn't care about doing right and didn't feel uncomfortable doing wrong, I should get on capitally.
Men are always ready to die for us, but not to make our lives worth having. Cheap sentiment and bad logic.
Louisa May Alcott
He was poor, yet always appeared to be giving something away; a stranger, yet everyone was his friend; no longer young, but as happy-hearted as a boy; plain and peculiar, yet his face looked beautiful to many.
Louisa May Alcott
Dear me! how happy and good we'd be, if we had no worries!
Louisa May Alcott
But the spirit of Eve is strong in all her daughters.
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