and a little Jane:
From Jane Austen's Persuasion:
– ...how eloquent were her wishes on the side of early warm attachment, and a cheerful confidence in futurity, against that over–anxious caution which seems to insult exertion and distrust Providence! She had been forced into prudence in her youth, she learned romance as she grew older, – the natural sequel of an unnatural beginning. (ch. IV)
– She had no resources for solitude. (V)
– ...they all went indoors with their new friends, and found rooms so small as none but those who invite from the heart could think capable of accommodating so many. (XI)
– His goodness of heart and simplicity of character were irresistible. (XIII)
– ...it seemed to have been only a struggle on each side, as to which should be most disinterested and hospitable. (XIV)
– "My ideal of good company, Mr. Elliot, is the company of clever, well–informed people, who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company." – – "You are mistaken," said he gently, "that is not good company – that is the best...." (XVI)
– She prized the frank, the open–hearted, the eager character beyond all others. Warmth and enthusiasm did captivate her still. She felt that she could so much more depend upon the sincerity of those who sometimes looked or said a careless or a hasty thing, than of those whose presence of mind never varied, whose tongue never slipped. (XVII)
– ...one half of her should not be always so much wiser than the other half, or always suspecting the other of being worse than it was....She hoped to be wise and reasonable in time: but alas! alas! She must confess to herself that she was not wise yet. (XIX)
– "What wild imaginations one forms, where dear self is concerned! How sure to be mistaken!" (XXI)
– "...our hearts must understand each other ere long...." (XXII)
– There is a quickness of perception in some, a nicety in the discernment of character, a natural penetration, in short, which no experience in others can equal.... (XXIV)
