Louisa May Alcott Quotes

The humblest tasks get beautified if loving hands do them.

I have nothing to give but my heart so full and these empty hands.""They're not empty now.

As to the other three, if they had been perfection they would not have been real girls, and you coul...

John Brooke is acting dreadfully, and Meg likes it!

...and Jo laid the rustling sheets together with a careful hand, as one might shut the covers of a l...

It does seem as if the more one gets the more one wants

Gentlemen, be courteous to the old maids, no matter how poor and plain and prim, for the only chival...

I don't like favors; they oppress and make me fell like a slave. I'd rather do everything for myself...

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

It’s genius simmering, perhaps. I’ll let it simmer, and see what comes of it,” he said, with a secre...

Every few weeks she would shut herself up in her room, put on her scribbling suit, and "fall into a ...

…in silence learned the sweet solace which affection administers to sorrow.

It is so beautiful to be loved as Laurie loves me; he isn’t sentimental, doesn’t say much about it, ...

life and love are very precious when both are in full bloom.

You are like a chestnut burr, prickly outside, but silky-soft within, and a sweet kernel, if one can...

I think she is growing up, and so begins to dream dreams, and have hopes and fears and fidgets, with...

...the love, respect, and confidence of my children was the sweetest reward I could receive for my e...

Ah! Thou gifest me such hope and courage, and I haf nothing to gif back but a full heart and these e...

…nothing remained but loneliness and grief…

I like good strong words that mean something…

I wish I had no heart, it aches so…

Jo couldn’t even lose her heart in a decorous manner, but sternly tried to quench her feelings, and ...

Don't laugh at the spinsters, dear girls, for often very tender, tragic romances are hidden away in ...

Amy's lecture did Laurie good, though, of course, he did not own it till long afterward. Men seldom ...

Be comforted, dear soul! There is always light behind the clouds.

Be worthy love, and love will come.

What shall you do all your vacation?’, asked Amy. "I shall lie abed and do nothing", replied Meg.

Jo carried her love of liberty and hate of conventionalities to such and unlimited extent that she n...

Because they are mean is no reason why I should be. I hate such things, and though I think I've a ri...

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

Love Jo all your days, if you choose, but don't let it spoil you, for it's wicked to throw away so m...

In her secret soul, however, she decided that politics were as bad as mathematics, and that the miss...

…because talent isn't genius, and no amount of energy can make it so. I want to be great, or nothing...

...the uncomfortable appearance of a girl who was rapidly shooting up into a woman and didn't like i...

I've got the key to my castle in the air, but whether I can unlock the door remains to be seen.

I never wanted to go away, and the hard part now is the leaving you all. I'm not afraid, but it seem...

She preferred imaginary heroes to real ones, because when tired of them, the former could be shut up...

Go on with your work as usual, for work is a blessed solace.

...freedom being the sauce best beloved by the boyish soul.

I am lonely, sometimes, but I dare say it's good for me…

I keep turning over new leaves, and spoiling them, as I used to spoil my copybooks; and I make so ma...

[Jo to her mother] I knew there was mischief brewing. I felt it and now it's worse than I imagined. ...

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

If you feel your value lies in being merely decorative, I fear that someday you might find yourself ...

…marriage, they say, halves one's rights and doubles one's duties.

Don't try to make me grow up before my time…

It's highly virtuous to say we'll be good, but we can't do it all at once, and it takes a long pull,...

Well, I am happy, and I won't fret, but it does seem as if the more one gets the more one wants…

It takes people a long time to learn the difference between talent and genius, especially ambitious ...

Jo's face was a study next day, for the secret rather weighed upon her, and she found it hard not to...

You don’t need scores of suitors. You need only one… if he’s the right one.

Jo knew nothing about philosophy or metaphysics of any sort, but a curious excitement, half pleasura...

Six weeks is a long time to wait, and a still longer time for a girl to keep a secret…

Then it was that Jo, living in the darkened room, with that suffering little sister always before he...

Every few weeks she would shut herself up in her room, put on her scribbling suit, and fall into a v...

I don't think secrets agree with me, I feel rumpled up in mind since you told me that…

I wish wearing flat-irons on our heads would keep us from growing up. But buds will be roses, and ki...

…feeling as if all the happiness and support of their lives was about to be taken from them.

Dear me! how happy and good we'd be, if we had no worries!

Conceit spoils the finest genius.

…possessed of that indescribable charm called grace.

…wisely mingled poetry and prose.

The clocks were striking midnight and the rooms were very still as a figure glided quietly from bed ...

Your father, Jo. He never loses patience,--never doubts or complains,--but always hopes, and works a...

Trifles show character

The more one gets the more one wants

She would make a man of me. She puts strength and courage into me as no one else can. She is unlike ...

Keep good company, read good books, love good things and cultivate soul and body as faithfully as yo...

Yes, Phebe was herself now, and it showed in the change that came over her at the first note of musi...

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

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

I want to be great or nothing. I won't be a commonplace dauber so I don't intend to try any more.

I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship.

What do girls do who haven't any mothers to help them through their troubles?

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

Many can argue not many converse.

Yet that is considered an excellent school, and I dare say it would be if the benighted lady did not...

Polly tried to conquer the bad feeling; but it worried her, till she remembered something her mother...

Women have been called queens for a long time, but the kingdom given them isn't worth ruling.

It’s highly virtuous to say we’ll be good, but wecan’t do it all at once, and it takes a long pull, ...

He who believes is strong he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions. He who do...

Have regular hours for work and play make each day both useful and pleasant and prove that you und...

I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship.

Do the things you know, and you shall learn the truth you need to know.

Painful as it may be, a significant emotional event can be the catalyst for choosing a direction tha...

I shall keep my book on the table here, and read a little every morning as soon as I wake, for I kno...

One's outlook is a part of his virtue.

Madam de Stael pronounced architecture to be frozen music so is statuary crystalized spirituality.

You have a good many little gifts and virtues, but there is no need of parading them, for conceit sp...

Debate is masculine conversation is feminine.

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

I like to help women help themselves, as that is, in my opinion, the best way to settle the woman qu...

Who are your heroes?" asked Jo."Grandfather and Napoleon.

Kindness in looks and words and ways is true politeness, and any one can have it if they only try to...

Money is the root of all evil, and yet it is such a useful root that we cannot get on without it any...

Let my name stand among those who are willing to bear ridicule and reproach for the truth's sake, an...

I rather miss my wild girl; but if I get a strong, helpful, tender-hearted woman in her place, I sha...

A little kingdom I possess Where thoughts and feelings dwell And very hard the task I find Of gove...

Have regular hours for work and play; make each day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you und...

Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up a...

I almost wish I hadn't any conscience; its so inconvenient. If I didn't care about doing right and d...