Quotes from Louisa May Alcott

Some books are so familiar, reading them is like being home again.

Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations.

Money is the root of all evil, and yet it is such a useful root that we cannot get on without it any more than we can without potatoes.

He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions.

I think this power of living in our children is one of the sweetest things in the world.

Kindness in looks and words and ways is true politeness, and any one can have it if they only try to treat other people as they like to be treated themselves.

Help one another is part of the religion of our sisterhood.

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.

We all have our own life to pursue, our own kind of dream to be weaving, and we all have the power to make wishes come true, as long as we keep believing.

Conceit spoils the finest genius. There is not much danger that real talent or goodness will be overlooked long; even if it is, the consciousness of possessing and using it well should satisfy one, and the great charm of all power is modesty.

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

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

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.

Conceit spoils the finest genius.

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

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.

Every few weeks she would shut herself up in her room, put on her scribbling suit, and fall into a vortex, as she expressed it, writing away at her novel with all her heart and soul, for till that was finished she could find no peace.

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

I wish I had no heart, it aches so…

The emerging woman ... will be strong-minded, strong-hearted, strong-souled, and strong-bodied...strength and beauty must go together.

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.

Keep good company, read good books, love good things and cultivate soul and body as faithfully as you can.

I'm not like the rest of you; I never made any plans about what I'd do when I grew up; I never thought of being married, as you did. I couldn't seem to imagine myself anything but stupid little Beth, trotting about at home, of no use anywhere but there. I never wanted to go away, and the hard part now is leaving you all. I'm not afraid, but it seems as if I should be homesick for you even in heaven.

Wild roses are fairest, and nature a better gardener than art.