Life Advice from Jane Austen

 Life Advice from Jane Austen

Who needs agony aunts and advice columns when you can turn to the laudable pages of Jane Austen for guidance? She may have died nearly three hundred years ago, but Austen's canny¹ observations on love, men, social standing² and even fashion still resonate in the 21st Century. Gems³ such the recipe for a happy marriage ("a large income") and womanhood ("loss of virtue⁴ in a female is irretrievable") are liberally peppered throughout her classic tomes.

With that in mind, we've dusted down the Jane Austen classics from the Stylist bookshelf and researched sayings attributed to the writer herself, for her very best words of wisdom.

Pick your favourite quote from the gallery below.

"Happiness in marriage is entirely⁵ a matter of chance."

"Vanity working on a weak head, produces every sort of mischief⁶."

"One cannot have too large a party."

"Know your own happiness. Want for nothing but patience - or give it a more fascinating name: Call it hope."

"The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid."

"There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart."

"Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs⁷ of disappointed love."

"Loss of virtue in a female is irretrievable; that one false step involves her in endless ruin."

"A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of."

"Indulge your imagination in every possible flight."

"A woman, especially if she have the misfortune of knowing anything, should conceal⁸ it as well as she can."

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

"There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort."

"One man's style must not be the rule of another's."

"Single women have a dreadful propensity⁹ for being poor...which is one very strong argument in favour of matrimony... "

"A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration¹⁰ to love, from love to matrimony in a moment."

"For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn?"

"They are much to be pitied who have not been given a taste for nature early in life."

"One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other."

"Dress is at all times a frivolous¹¹ distinction, and excessive solicitude¹² about it often destroys its own aim."

"Next to being married, a girl likes to be crossed in love a little now and then."

"It is very difficult for the prosperous to be humble¹³."

"When a woman has five grown-up daughters, she ought to give over thinking of her own beauty."

"To sit in the shade on a fine day, and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment¹⁴."

"A person who can write a long letter with ease, cannot write ill."

"To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love."

"One cannot be always laughing at a man without now and then stumbling on something witty¹⁵."

"Every savage¹⁶ can dance."

"Marriage is indeed a manoeuvring business."

"Give a girl an education and introduce her properly into the world, and ten to one but she has the means of settling well, without further expense to anybody."

"To look almost pretty is an acquisition of higher delight to a girl who has been looking plain the first fifteen years of her life than a beauty from her cradle can ever receive."

"Without music, life would be a blank."

"Surprises are foolish things. The pleasure is not enhanced, and the inconvenience is often considerable."

"There are as many forms of love as there are moments in time."

"No man is offended by another man's admiration of the woman he loves; it is the woman only who can make it a torment¹⁷."

1 canny   

adj.谨慎的，节俭的

参考例句：

• He was far too canny to risk giving himself away.他非常谨慎，不会冒险暴露自己。
• But I'm trying to be a little canny about it.但是我想对此谨慎一些。

2 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

3 gems   

growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长

参考例句：

• a crown studded with gems 镶有宝石的皇冠
• The apt citations and poetic gems have adorned his speeches. 贴切的引语和珠玑般的诗句为他的演说词增添文采。

4 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

5 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

6 mischief   

n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹

参考例句：

• Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
• He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。

7 pangs   

突然的剧痛( pang的名词复数 )； 悲痛

参考例句：

• She felt sudden pangs of regret. 她突然感到痛悔不已。
• With touching pathos he described the pangs of hunger. 他以极具感伤力的笔触描述了饥饿的痛苦。

8 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。

9 propensity   

n.倾向；习性

参考例句：

• He has a propensity for drinking too much alcohol.他有酗酒的倾向。
• She hasn't reckoned on his propensity for violence.她不曾料到他有暴力倾向。

10 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

11 frivolous   

adj.轻薄的；轻率的

参考例句：

• This is a frivolous way of attacking the problem.这是一种轻率敷衍的处理问题的方式。
• He spent a lot of his money on frivolous things.他在一些无聊的事上花了好多钱。

12 solicitude   

n.焦虑

参考例句：

• Your solicitude was a great consolation to me.你对我的关怀给了我莫大的安慰。
• He is full of tender solicitude towards my sister.他对我妹妹满心牵挂。

13 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

14 refreshment   

n.恢复，精神爽快，提神之事物；（复数）refreshments:点心，茶点

参考例句：

• He needs to stop fairly often for refreshment.他须时不时地停下来喘口气。
• A hot bath is a great refreshment after a day's work.在一天工作之后洗个热水澡真是舒畅。

15 witty   

adj.机智的，风趣的

参考例句：

• Her witty remarks added a little salt to the conversation.她的妙语使谈话增添了一些风趣。
• He scored a bull's-eye in their argument with that witty retort.在他们的辩论中他那一句机智的反驳击中了要害。

16 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

17 torment   

n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠

参考例句：

• He has never suffered the torment of rejection.他从未经受过遭人拒绝的痛苦。
• Now nothing aggravates me more than when people torment each other.没有什么东西比人们的互相折磨更使我愤怒。