50 most inspirational quotes from Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women

Little Women is the story of four sisters – Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy.

They were once rich, but when the story begins, due to some unfortunate turn of events they have lost all the wealth and live on the bare minimum, with their mother and Hannah, their domestic help. Their father is away to serve the army and the girls are quite young with the eldest Meg being sixteen or seventeen.

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Best Quotes from Little Women

“Love is a great beautifier.”

“...for love casts out fear, and gratitude can conquer pride.”

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

“Be worthy love, and love will come.”

“I wish I had no heart, it aches so…”

“Jo had learned that hearts, like flowers, cannot be rudely handled, but must open naturally…”

“Girls are so queer you never know what they mean. They say no when they mean yes, and drive a man out of his wits just for the fun of it.”

“Life and love are very precious when both are in full bloom.”

“Women, they have minds, and they have souls, as well as just hearts. And they’ve got ambition, and they’ve got talent, as well as just beauty. I’m so sick of people saying that love is all a woman is fit for.”

“You are like a chestnut burr, prickly outside, but silky-soft within, and a sweet kernel, if one can only get at it. Love will make you show your heart some day, and then the rough burr will fall off.”

“Love covers a multitude of sins…”

Quotes about Life from Little Women

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

“There are many Beths in the world, shy and quiet, sitting in corners till needed, and living for others so cheerfully that no one sees the sacrifices till the little cricket on the hearth stops chirping, and the sweet, sunshiny presence vanishes, leaving silence and shadow behind.”

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

“Watch and pray, dear, never get tired of trying, and never think it is impossible to conquer your fault.”

“I think she is growing up, and so begins to dream dreams, and have hopes and fears and fidgets, without knowing why or being able to explain them.”

“I don't like favors; they oppress and make me fell like a slave. I'd rather do everything for myself, and be perfectly independent.”

“Some people seemed to get all sunshine, and some all shadow…”

“Wealth is certainly a most desirable thing, but poverty has its sunny side, and one of the sweet uses of adversity is the genuine satisfaction which comes from hearty work of head or hand, and to the inspiration of necessity, we owe half the wise, beautiful, and useful blessings of the world.”

“It takes people a long time to learn the difference between talent and genius, especially ambitious young men and women.”

“She began to see that character is a better possession than money, rank, intellect, or beauty, and to feel that if greatness is what a wise man has defined it to be, 'truth, reverence, and good will,' then her friend Friedrich Bhaer was not only good, but great.”

“I'd rather see you poor men's wives, if you were happy, beloved, contented, than queen's on thrones, without self-respect and peace.”

“Simple, sincere people seldom speak much of their piety; it shows itself in acts rather than words, and has more influence than homilies or protestations.”

Quotes about Hope from Little Women

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

“Let us be elegant or die!”

“You are the gull, Jo, strong and wild, fond of the storm and the wind, flying far out to sea, and happy all alone.”

“Your father, Jo. He never loses patience, never doubts or complains, but always hopes, and works and waits so cheerfully that one is ashamed to do otherwise before him.”

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

“Don't cry so bitterly, but remember this day, and resolve with all your soul that you will never know another like it.”

“But, like all happiness, it did not last long…”

“If life is often so hard as this, I don't see how we ever shall get through it…”

“Into each life some rain must fall, Some days must be dark and sad and dreary.”

Quotes about Literature from Little Women

“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”

“I like good strong words that mean something…”

“Conceit spoils the finest genius.”

“She preferred imaginary heroes to real ones, because when tired of them, the former could be shut up in the tin kitchen till called for, and the latter were less manageable.”

“Now and then, in this workaday world, things do happen in the delightful storybook fashion, and what a comfort that is.”

“...and best of all, the wilderness of books, in which she could wander, where she liked, made the library a region of bliss to her.”

You say often you wish a library; here I gif you one; for between these two lids (he meant covers) is many books in one. Read him well, and he will help you much; for the study of character in this book will help you to read it in the world, and paint it with your pen.”

Quotes about Relationships from Little Women

“Have regular hours for work and play; make each day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well. Then youth will bring few regrets, and life will become a beautiful success.”

“Because they are mean is no reason why I should be. I hate such things, and though I think I've a right to be hurt, I don't intend to show it.”

“I don't pretend to be wise, but I am observing, and I see a great deal more than you'd imagine. I'm interested in other people's experiences and inconsistencies, and, though I can't explain, I remember and use them for my own benefit.”

“...the love, respect, and confidence of my children was the sweetest reward I could receive for my efforts to be the woman I would have them copy.”

“The humblest tasks get beautified if loving hands do them.”

“Gentlemen, be courteous to the old maids, no matter how poor and plain and prim, for the only chivalry worth having is that which is the readiest to to pay deference to the old, protect the feeble, and serve womankind, regardless of rank, age, or color.”

“Jo's eyes sparkled, for it's always pleasant to be believed in; and a friend's praise is always sweeter than a dozen newspaper puffs.”

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

“When we make little sacrifices we like to have them appreciated, at least…”

“I do think that families are the most beautiful things in all the world!”

“I think we are all hopelessly flawed.”

“Never take advice!”