Pride and Prejudice Quotes

Far be it from me, my dear sister, to depreciate such pleasures! They would doubtless be congenial with the generality of female minds. But I confess they would have no charms for me – I should infinitely prefer a book.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 39. Mary Bennet says this to fun-loving sister Lydia, who has been "enumerating the various pleasures of the morning" and is intent on going to Brighton to flirt with the campful of soldiers that will be there for the summer. Mary agrees that such pleasures are to most females’ liking, but she prefers to read.

You never will be able to make both of them good for anything. Take your choice, but you must be satisfied with only one. There is but such a quantity of merit between them; just enough to make one good sort of man; and of late it has been shifting about pretty much. For my part, I am inclined to believe it all Darcy’s; but you shall do as you choose.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 40. Elizabeth is discussing Wickham and Darcy with Jane. In typical Elizabeth wit when commenting on the goodness of men, she delivers the memorable line that between the two there is just enough merit to make one good man. Darcy is that man, she declares.

Your profusion makes me saving; and if you lament over him much longer, my heart will be as light as a feather.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 40. When Jane joins Elizabeth in lamenting over how badly Darcy was treated, Elizabeth feels a sense of relief as her sister helps share her distress. Burdened by guilt over her misjudgment of Darcy, Elizabeth uses a simile to compare her heart to a feather. Jane and Elizabeth are two of the closest Bennet sisters and are very supportive of each other.

There certainly was some great mismanagement in the education of those two young men. One has got all the goodness, and the other all the appearance of it.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 40. What Elizabeth says to sister Jane concerning Mr. Darcy and Mr. Wickham highlights the dangers of judging a book by its cover, something she has been guilty of. Reading Darcy’s letter shocked her into self-knowledge, so that she now realizes that Darcy is the one with the goodness, while Wickham had only the appearance of it. Before this her prejudices about the two men she has been romantically associated with clouded her judgment about them.

One cannot always be laughing at a man without now and then stumbling on something witty.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 40. Elizabeth admits to Jane that she has been mistaken in her judgment of Darcy and she misused her wit to abuse him. This self-knowledge comes after the letter from Darcy to Elizabeth explaining the truth of his relationship with George Wickham. The fuller quote: "I meant to be uncommonly clever in taking so decided a dislike to him, without any reason. It is such a spur to one’s genius, such an opening for wit to have a dislike of that kind. One may be continually abusive without saying any thing just; but one cannot be always laughing at a man without now and then stumbling on something witty."

If I endeavor to undeceive people as to the rest of his conduct, who will believe me? The general prejudice against Mr. Darcy is so violent that it would be the death of half the good people in Meryton, to attempt to place him in an amiable light.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 40. Elizabeth decides that it is better not to reveal the true noble nature of Mr. Darcy’s dealings with Wickham. She accepts that she has done an injustice to Darcy with her misjudgment of him. But she does nothing to correct the false perception of him since the prejudice against him is so strong she believes that she cannot overcome it. So people will continue to deceive themselves about Darcy until they find out for themselves.

"Lydia will never be easy until she has exposed herself in some public place or other, and we can never expect her to do it with so little expense or inconvenience to her family as under the present circumstances."
"If you were aware," said Elizabeth, "of the very great disadvantage to us all which must arise from the public notice of Lydia’s unguarded and imprudent manner – nay, which has already arisen from it, I am sure you would judge differently in the affair."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 41. This is Mr. Bennet’s final word on Lydia’s wish to to go to Brighton, where the militia regiment is relocating. A believer in the passive parenting, Mr. Bennet doesn’t see any problem with Lydia’s trip. He thinks there will be little cost or inconvenience for the family if she goes. This is despite his eldest daughter Elizabeth’s warning that Lydia’s wild behavior will impact the family negatively. But Mr. Bennet turns out to be so wrong, and Elizabeth’s worst fears come to pass. This exchange is foreshadowing of the trouble that Lydia is about to bring down on the Bennets.

Our importance, our respectability in the world must be affected by the wild volatility, the assurance and disdain of all restraint which mark Lydia’s character. Excuse me – for I must speak plainly. If you, my dear father, will not take the trouble of checking her exuberant spirits, and of teaching her that her present pursuits are not to be the business of her life, she will soon be beyond the reach of amendment. Her character will be fixed, and she will, at sixteen, be the most determined flirt that ever made herself and her family ridiculous.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 41. Elizabeth lectures her father over his questionable parenting of his youngest daughter Lydia. Fifteen-year-old Lydia has received an invitation from the wife of Colonel Forster to come with the militia regiment to Brighton. But Elizabeth is opposed to the wild and unrestrained Lydia going, ominously warning that she will become the "most determined flirt" and damage the family’s reputation and standing. Mr. Bennet fails to "check" his daughter’s "exuberant spirits" as demanded by Elizabeth, with very troubling consequences later on, as we discover. This foreshadows the scandal Lydia will soon become embroiled in.

Colonel Forster is a sensible man, and will keep her out of any real mischief; and she is luckily too poor to be an object of prey to anybody. At Brighton she will be of less importance even as a common flirt than she has been here. The officers will find women better worth their notice. Let us hope, therefore, that her being there may teach her her own insignificance. At any rate, she cannot grow many degrees worse, without authorising us to lock her up for the rest of her life.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 41. When Elizabeth warns Mr. Bennet not to let Lydia go with the militia regiment to Brighton, he justifies his decision to allow her in a passage that is full of ironic foreshadowing. It is a bit hard to swallow that he believe nothing bad will happen by sending his silliest and most immature daughter to the seaside resort of Brighton. Far from staying out of "real mischief" and not falling "prey" to anybody, the 15-year-old flirtateous Lydia ends up running off, unmarried, with the predatory militia officer George Wickham.

In Lydia’s imagination, a visit to Brighton comprised every possibility of earthly happiness. She saw herself the object of attention to tens and to scores of them at present unknown. She saw all the glories of the camp – its tents stretched forth in beauteous uniformity of lines, crowded with the young and the gay, and dazzling with scarlet; and, to complete the view, she saw herself seated beneath a tent, tenderly flirting with at least six officers at once.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 41. Lydia’s imagination runs wild after Mr. Bennet with his hands-off parenting strategy gives her the go-ahead to go to Brighton with Colonel Forster and his wife. She fantasizes about partying with the young men of the regiment, flirting with at least six officers at the same time. This is foreshadowing of trouble ahead.

Her father, captivated by youth and beauty, and that appearance of good humour, which youth and beauty generally give, had married a woman whose weak understanding and illiberal mind, had very early in their marriage put an end to all real affection for her.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 42. Mr. Bennet married his wife because of her beautiful appearance. He did not see the extent of her foolishness before he wed her. It is clear that Mr. Bennet no longer has no real love for Mrs. Bennet. Their marriage serves as a health warning to those who rush into marriage for beauty and appearances alone.

Where other powers of entertainment are wanting, the true philosopher will derive benefit from such as are given.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 42. Having learned that he married a foolish and ignorant woman, a disappointed Mr. Bennet seeks refuge in making human folly his pastime. He finds plenty of entertainment material in Mrs. Bennet and has no respect for her. The fuller quote: "To his wife he was very little otherwise indebted, than as her ignorance and folly had contributed to his amusement. This is not the sort of happiness which a man would in general wish to owe to his wife; but where other powers of entertainment are wanting, the true philosopher will derive benefit from such as are given."

Elizabeth, however, had never been blind to the impropriety of her father’s behaviour as a husband. She had always seen it with pain; but respecting his abilities, and grateful for his affectionate treatment of herself, she endeavoured to forget what she could not overlook, and to banish from her thoughts that continual breach of conjugal obligation and decorum which, in exposing his wife to the contempt of her own children, was so highly reprehensible. But she had never felt so strongly as now the disadvantages which must attend the children of so unsuitable a marriage.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 42. Even Mr. Bennet’s favorite daughter Elizabeth is critical of his behavior as a husband. She reflects on his "reprehensible" treatment of his wife by continually exposing her to the contempt of her own children. Elizabeth feels strongly that her parents are unsuited to one another and this has disadvantaged their children.

Elizabeth was distressed. She felt that she had no business at Pemberley, and was obliged to assume a disinclination for seeing it. She must own that she was tired of great houses; after going over so many, she really had no pleasure in fine carpets or satin curtains…The possibility of meeting Mr. Darcy, while viewing the place, instantly occurred. It would be dreadful!

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 42. When Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner invite Elizabeth to visit Darcy’s estate of Pemberley, she is very hesitant and seeks reassurance that he will not be there. She finds the thought of running into Darcy at Pemberley too much to contemplate and only agrees to go after she learns that none of the family will be there.

Elizabeth, as they drove along, watched for the first appearance of Pemberley Woods with some perturbation; and when at length they turned in at the lodge, her spirits were in a high flutter. The park was very large, and contained great variety of ground. They entered it in one of its lowest points, and drove for some time through a beautiful wood stretching over a wide extent.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 43. The chapter’s opening lines describes Elizabeth’s arrival at Pemberley with her aunt and uncle. Her visit turns out to be a key event, for she not only meets Darcy but he reveals his true and real self to her. The description of her spirits being in a "high flutter" suggests that Elizabeth is in love with, not just Pemberley, but its owner Darcy.

They gradually ascended for half a mile, and then found themselves at the top of a considerable eminence, where the wood ceased, and the eye was instantly caught by Pemberley House, situated on the opposite side of a valley, into which the road with some abruptness wound. It was a large, handsome, stone building, standing well on rising ground, and backed by a ridge of high woody hills; – and in front, a stream of some natural importance was swelled into greater, but without any artificial appearance. Its banks were neither formal, nor falsely adorned. Elizabeth was delighted. She had never seen a place where nature had done more, or where natural beauty had been so little counteracted by an awkward taste. They were all of them warm in their admiration; and at that moment she felt that to be mistress of Pemberley might be something!

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 43. Elizabeth gets her first view of the estate that will eventually become her home when she visit Pemberley with Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner. She and her aunt and uncle are impressed by the beauty and elegance of Pemberley House and its grounds. For a moment Elizabeth even imagines herself being mistress of Mr. Darcy’s home. Her appreciation of Pemberley during her tour of it – "a large, handsome, stone building" – foreshadows her eventual realization of her love for Darcy and that she will become mistress of Pemberley. It is believed that Jane Austen may have based her idea of Darcy’s fictional country estate of Pemberley on Chatsworth House. Chatsworth is the home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire and can trace its history back to 1549, when the Cavandish family acquired the estate. The beautiful 105-acre Chatsworth gardens are world famous and attract more than one million visitors a year. The stately home features extensively in the 2005 Pride and Prejudice film as Mr. Darcy’s residence.

Elizabeth, after slightly surveying it, went to a window to enjoy its prospect. The hill, crowned with wood, from which they had descended, receiving increased abruptness from the distance, was a beautiful object. Every disposition of the ground was good; and she looked on the whole scene, the river, the trees scattered on its banks, and the winding of the valley, as far as she could trace it, with delight.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 43. During Elizabeth’s first visit to Pemberley she is impressed by the beauty of the grounds, as she views them through a window of Darcy’s country estate home.

The rooms were lofty and handsome, and their furniture suitable to the fortune of its proprietor; but Elizabeth saw, with admiration of his taste, that it was neither gaudy nor uselessly fine; with less of splendour, and more real elegance, than the furniture of Rosings.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 43. Elizabeth praises the tastefully furnished and elegant rooms in Darcy’s Pemberley. She compares them to those in in Lady Catherine’s home of Rosings, which were more splendid but less elegant. Her verdict: Darcy has more taste than his aristocratic aunt. But is it Darcy’s rooms she loves – or Darcy?

"And of this place," thought she, "I might have been mistress! With these rooms I might now have been familiarly acquainted! Instead of viewing them as a stranger, I might have rejoiced in them as my own, and welcomed to them as visitors my uncle and aunt. But no," – recollecting herself – "that could never be; my uncle and aunt would have been lost to me; I should not have been allowed to invite them."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 43. As Elizabeth wanders around Pemberley room by room, she is struck by the realization that she could have been mistress of the estate. It is only on seeing Darcy’s country home, that she can imagine herself being Mrs. Darcy. But amid her day-dreaming, the reality hits that if she married Darcy she could not invite Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner over because of Darcy’s class prejudice.

On reaching the spacious lobby above they were shown into a very pretty sitting-room, lately fitted up with greater elegance and lightness than the apartments below; and were informed that it was but just done to give pleasure to Miss Darcy, who had taken a liking to the room when last at Pemberley.
"He is certainly a good brother," said Elizabeth, as she walked towards one of the windows.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 43. Family is important to Darcy and he is a good and caring brother, Elizabeth discovers when she is taken into an attractive sitting room. His sister Georgiana took a liking to the room when she last visited Pemberley, so Darcy had it more elegantly fitted out for her pleasure.

"He is now gone into the army," she added; "but I am afraid he has turned out very wild."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 43. Mrs. Reynolds says this to Mrs. Gardiner about George Wickham. The Pemberley housekeeper tells Elizabeth and her party that Wickham was the son of her late master’s steward, who had been brought up by him at his own expense. Wickham’s "very wild" description could be said to foreshadow the nightmare he will turn out to be for the Bennet family, when he runs away with one of the Bennet daughters.

Mr. Gardiner, whose manners were very easy and pleasant, encouraged her communicativeness by his questions and remarks; Mrs. Reynolds, either by pride or attachment, had evidently great pleasure in talking of her master and his sister.

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 43. The housekeeper at Pemberley Mrs. Reynolds is very proud to speak about her master Mr. Darcy and his sister Georgiana to the visiting Gardiners and Elizabeth. The longer Elizabeth is at Pemberley the more good things she learns about Darcy.

"If your master would marry, you might see more of him."
"Yes, sir; but I do not know when that will be. I do not know who is good enough for him."
Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner smiled. Elizabeth could not help saying, "It is very much to his credit, I am sure, that you should think so."
"I say no more than the truth, and everybody will say that knows him," replied the other. Elizabeth thought this was going pretty far; and she listened with increasing astonishment as the housekeeper added, "I have never known a cross word from him in my life, and I have known him ever since he was four years old."

– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 43. Elizabeth is taken aback as Mrs. Reynolds has high praise for her master Mr. Darcy in conversation with Mr. Gardiner. She tells him that she doesn’t know when Mr. Darcy might marry as she doesn’t know "who is good enough for him." She also claims to have never heard a cross word from him since he was a young child. Elizabeth is astonished as this has not been her experience with Darcy.
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