I pay very little regard...to what any young person says on the subject of marriage. If they profess a disinclination for it, I only set it down that they have not yet seen the right person.
Jane AustenRead
To look almost pretty is an acquisition of higher delight to a girl who has been looking plain for the first fifteen years of her life than a beauty from her cradle can ever receive.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Achieving beauty after a period of feeling plain brings more joy than being beautiful from birth.
Jane Austen's quote reflects the idea that the experience of gaining beauty, especially after feeling unattractive for a significant period, can provide a deeper sense of fulfillment than those who have always been considered beautiful. This speaks to the value of personal growth and the delight in a newfound appreciation of oneself.
Themes
BeautyDelightSelf-EsteemGrowthAppreciation
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about self-acceptance and personal development.
More from Jane Austen
All quotes →Nobody could catch cold by the sea; nobody wanted appetite by the sea; nobody wanted spirits; nobody wanted strength. Sea air was healing, softening, relaxing - fortifying and bracing - seemingly just as was wanted - sometimes one, sometimes the other. If the sea breeze failed, the seabath was the certain corrective; and where bathing disagreed, the sea air alone was evidently designed by nature for the cure.
Jane AustenRead
He certainly is very agreeable, and I give you leave to like him. You have liked many a stupider person.
Jane AustenRead
A person who is knowingly bent on bad behavior, gets upset when better behavior is expected of them.
Jane AustenRead
You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever.
Jane AustenRead
She hoped to be wise and reasonable in time; but alas! Alas! She must confess to herself that she was not wise yet.
Jane AustenRead
Similar quotes
The most important beauty is not that with which you were born, but the beauty of character which grows through a woman's life and maybe never stops growing.
Oscar De La RentaRead
Our noses are broad, our lips are thick, our hair is nappy-we are black and beautiful!
Stokely CarmichaelRead
How I grew to believe Black hair has power, genius, and magic in it, defying gravity and limitation. I mean, look at how marvelous it is: Black hair grows up and out.
Michaela Angela DavisRead
Women, with their sure instincts, realized that my intention was to make them not just more beautiful but also happier.
Christian DiorRead
I, like many women, buy into patriarchal standards of beauty every day. I very rarely leave the house without make-up. I dye my hair. I wear clothes that I choose carefully for how they make me look to the outside world.
Stella YoungRead
Within every girl is the possibility of arousing emotion. Without emotion there is no beauty.
Diana VreelandRead