“Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I cannot reach them: but I can look up, and see their beauty; believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.”
~Louisa May Alcott, American author
Work: A Story of Experience (1873) Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1873, p. 261; online via University of California Libraries & Internet Archive, www.archive.org
Extended excerpt: “Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I cannot reach them: but I can look up, and see their beauty; believe in them, and try to follow where they lead; remember that frost comes latest to those that bloom the highest; and keep my beautiful white flowers as long as I can.” (p. 261)
Source link: Work: A Story of Experience (1873 Roberts Bros.) online via Internet Archive: https://archive.org/stream/workstoryofexper00alcorich#page/260/mode/2up/search/Far+away+there+in+the+sunshine
“I’m not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.”
~Louisa May Alcott, American author
Little Women; or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy (1868) Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1887, p. 495; online via New York Public Library & Internet Archive, www.archive.org
Extended excerpt [Fiction – Part II, chapter XLIV – character ‘Amy,’ speaking to family]
“Lovely weather so far; I don’t know how long it will last, but I’m not afraid of storms, for I’m learning how to sail my ship. Come how, dear, and I’ll find your bootjack; I suppose that’s what you are rummaging after among my things. Men are so helpless, mother,” said Amy, with a matronly air, which delighted her husband.” (p. 495)
Source note: Little Women was originally published in two parts. Earlier full editions of the novel – including the one cited here – noted on the cover that the book contained both “Parts I and II.”
Source link: Little Women (1868|1887 Roberts Bros.) online via Internet Archive: https://archive.org/stream/littlewomenormeg00alco3#page/494/mode/2up/search/learning+how+to+sail+my+ship
“Love is a great beautifier.”
~Louisa May Alcott, American author
Little Women; or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy (1868) Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1887, p. 260; online via New York Public Library & Internet Archive, www.archive.org
Extended excerpt [Fiction – Part II, chapter XXIV – Narrator]
“Meg had spent the time in working as well as waiting, growing womanly in character, wise in housewifery arts, and prettier than ever; for love is a great beautifier. She had her girlish ambitions and hopes, and felt some disappointment at the humble way in which the new life must begin.” (pp. 260-261)
Source note: Little Women was originally published in two parts. Earlier full editions of the novel – including the one cited here – noted on the cover that the book contained both “Parts I and II.”
Source link: Little Women (1868|1887 Roberts Bros.) online via Internet Archive: https://archive.org/stream/littlewomenormeg00alco3#page/260/mode/2up/search/for+love+is+a+great+beautifier
“Love is the only thing that we can carry with us when we go, and it makes the end so easy.”
~Louisa May Alcott, American author
Little Women; or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy (1868) Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1887, p. 455; online via New York Public Library & Internet Archive, www.archive.org
Extended excerpt [Fiction – Part II, chapter XL, character ‘Beth,’ speaking to ‘Jo’]
“They will turn to you – don’t fail them; and if it’s hard to work alone, remember that I don’t forget you, and that you’ll be happier in doing that than writing splendid books or seeing all the world; for love is the only thing that we can carry with us when we go, and it makes the end so easy.” (p. 455)
Source link: Little Women (1868|1887 Roberts Bros.) online via Internet Archive: https://archive.org/stream/littlewomenormeg00alco3#page/454/mode/2up/search/love+is+the+only+thing+that+we+can+carry
“When women are the advisers, the lords of creation don’t take the advice until they have persuaded themselves that it is just what they intended to do; then they act upon it,and if it succeeds, they give the weaker vessel half the credit of it; if it fails, they generously give her the whole.”
~Louisa May Alcott, American author
Little Women; or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy (1868) Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1887, p. 456; online via New York Public Library & Internet Archive, www.archive.org
Extended excerpt [Fiction – Part II, chapter XLI – Narrator]
“Amy’s lecture did Laurie good, though, of course, he did not own it till long afterward; men seldom do, for when women are the advisers, the lords of creation don’t take the advice until they have persuaded themselves that it is just what they intended to do; then they act upon it, and, if it succeeds, they give the weaker vessel half the credit of it; if it fails, they generously give her the whole.” (p. 456)
Source note: Little Women was originally published in two parts. Earlier full editions of the novel – including the one cited here – noted on the cover that the book contained both “Parts I and II.”
Source link: Little Women (1868|1887 Roberts Bros.) online via Internet Archive: https://archive.org/stream/littlewomenormeg00alco3#page/456/mode/2up/search/when+women+are+the+advisers
“Women have been called queens for a long time, but the kingdom given them isn’t worth ruling.”
~Louisa May Alcott, American author
An Old-Fashioned Girl (1869) Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1870 edition, 264; online via Internet Archive, www.archive.org
Extended excerpt: [Fiction – chapter XIII – ‘Rebecca,’ to group of girls]
“Give her a sceptre; she would make a fine queen,” answered Fanny.
“No, we have had enough of that; women have been called queens a long time, but the kingdom given them isn’t worth ruling,” answered Rebecca. (p. 264)
Source note: The first six chapters An Old-Fashioned Girl were initially published as a serial in Merry’s Museum magazine in July & August 1869.
Source link: An Old-Fashioned Girl (1869|1870 Robert Bros.) online via Internet Archive: https://archive.org/stream/oldfashionedgirl00alco2#page/264/mode/2up/search/women+have+been+called+queens
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