‘Pride and Prejudice’ is one of the most famous contemporary classic novels in history. It has countless retellings, movies, plays and adaptations under its belt.
From crushing on Mr. Darcy to wishing one could attend Mr. Bingley’s balls, every reader has wanted to be a part of this beautiful novel by Jane Austen. Sprinkling Pride and Prejudice quotes from the book into everyday conversation is one way to keep the book alive.
27 Pride and Prejudice Quotes to Awaken Your Love for Classics
Pride and Prejudice Quotes on Society’s Rules
#1. “In marrying your nephew, I should not consider myself as quitting that sphere. He is a gentleman; I am a gentleman’s daughter; so far we are equal.” – Elizabeth Bennet
#2. “Pride…is a very common failing, I believe. By all that I have ever read, I am convinced that it is very common indeed; that human nature is particularly prone to it, and that there are very few of us who do not cherish a feeling of self-complacency on the score of some quality or other, real or imaginary.” – Mary Bennet
#3. “Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.” – Mary Bennet
#4. “Nothing is more deceitful…than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an indirect boast.” – Fitzwilliam Darcy
#5. “There is, I believe, in every disposition a tendency to some particular evil—a natural defect, which not even the best education can overcome.” – Fitzwilliam Darcy
#6. “Do not make yourself uneasy, my dear cousin, about your apparel. Lady Catherine is far from requiring that elegance of dress in us which becomes herself and her daughter. I could advise you merely to put on whatever of your clothes is superior to the rest—there is no occasion for anything more.” – William Collins
#7. “She will not think the worse of you for being simply dressed. She likes to have the distinction of rank preserved.” – William Collins
#8. “My dear Miss Elizabeth, … permit me to say, that there must be a wide difference between the established forms of ceremony amongst the laity, and those which regulate the clergy; for, give me leave to observe that I consider the clerical office as equal in point of dignity with the highest rank in the kingdom—provided that a proper humility of behaviour is at the same time maintained.” – William Collins.
Pride and Prejudice Quotes About People
#9. “But people themselves alter so much that there is something new to be observed in them forever.” – Fitzwilliam Darcy.
#10. “Follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies do divert me, I own, and I laugh at them whenever I can.” – Elizabeth Bennet
#11. “To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love.” – Jane Austen
#12. “She was convinced that she could have been happy with him, when it was no longer likely they should meet.” – Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice Quotes About Love
#13. “I am determined that only the deepest love will induce me into matrimony. So, I shall end an old maid, and teach your ten children to embroider cushions and play their instruments very ill.” – Elizabeth Bennet
#14. “I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.” – Elizabeth Bennet
#15. “A lady’s imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.” – Fitzwilliam Darcy
#16. “My good opinion once lost is lost forever.” – Fitzwilliam Darcy
#17. “You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.” – Fitzwilliam Darcy
#18. “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book!” – Miss Bingley
#19. “When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.” – Miss Bingley
Pride and Prejudice Quotes About Marriage
#20. “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” – Jane Austen
#21. “Without thinking highly either of men or matrimony, marriage had always been her object; it was the only provision for well-educated young women of small fortune, and however uncertain of giving happiness, must be their pleasantest preservative from want.” – Jane Austen
#22. “I ask only a comfortable home; and considering Mr. Collins’ character, connection, and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair as most people can boast on entering the marriage state.” – Charlotte Lucas
#23. “He concluded with representing to her the strength of that attachment which, in spite of all his endeavours, he had found impossible to conquer; and with expressing his hope that it would now be rewarded by her acceptance of his hand.” – Jane Austen
#24. “But she had never felt so strongly as now the disadvantages which must attend the children of so unsuitable marriage, nor ever been so fully aware of the evils arising from so ill-judged a direction of talents; talents, which, rightly used, might at least have preserved the respectability of his daughters, even if incapable of enlarging the mind of his wife.” – Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice Quotes About Deceit
#25. “There is a meanness in all the arts which ladies sometimes condescend to employ for captivation. Whatever bears affinity to cunning is despicable.” – Fitzwilliam Darcy
#26. “It could not be for society, as he frequently sat there ten minutes together without opening his lips; and when he did speak, it seemed the effect of necessity rather than of choice—a sacrifice to propriety, not a pleasure to himself.” – Jane Austen
#27. “I, who have prided myself on my discernment! I, who have valued myself on my abilities! who have often disdained the generous candour of my sister, and gratified my vanity in useless or blameable mistrust! How humiliating is this discovery! Yet, how just a humiliation! Had I been in love, I could not have been more wretchedly blind! But vanity, not love, has been my folly.” – Elizabeth Bennet
Pride and Prejudice was supposed to be a tale of romance and love. Instead, it became a cultural icon and a symbol of feminine writing. It grew into a repository of quotes and quips that still rings of the Victorian style, but with a woman’s touch.
But even if you are just a reader yearning for the passionate romance of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet, the quotes still strike one’s heart and soul with the strength of their fervor.
