110+ Louisa May Alcott Quotes On Death, Writing And Sisters

Louisa May Alcott was an American novelist best known for her novel Little Women. She was a strong advocate for women's rights and was an abolitionist before the Civil War. Her other works include An Old-Fashioned Girl, Little Men, Work: A Story of Experience, and Jo's Boys. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Louisa May Alcott on love, death, life.

Top 10 Louisa May Alcott Quotes

1. I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.
2. Be comforted, dear soul! There is always light behind the clouds.
3. 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.
4. The power of finding beauty in the humblest things makes home happy and life lovely.
5. Keep good company, read good books, love good things and cultivate soul and body as faithfully as you can
6. Happy is the son whose faith in his mother remains unchallenged.
7. Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.
8. Is it not meningitis?
9. Conceit spoils the finest genius.
10. The duty we owe ourselves is greater than that we owe others.

Louisa May Alcott Image Quotes

Be comforted, dear soul! There is always light behind the clouds. — Louisa May Alcott

Happy is the son whose faith in his mother remains unchallenged. — Louisa May Alcott

Conceit spoils the finest genius. — Louisa May Alcott

...freedom being the sauce best beloved by the boyish soul. — Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott Short Quotes

• ...freedom being the sauce best beloved by the boyish soul.
• I like good strong words that mean something.
• Nothing is impossible to a determined woman.
• The violin - that most human of all instruments.
• Women have been called queens for a long time, but the kingdom given them isn't worth ruling.
• Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations.
• Prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well.
• He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions.
• Rivalry adds so much to the charms of one's conquests.
• She is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain.

Louisa May Alcott Quotes About Love

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. — Louisa May Alcott

Love is a great beautifier. — Louisa May Alcott

Love is a flower that grows in any soil, works its sweet miracles undaunted by autumn frost or winter snow, blooming fair and fragrant all the year, and blessing those who give and those who receive. — Louisa May Alcott

He was the first, the only love her life, and in a nature like hers such passions take deep root and die-hard. — Louisa May Alcott

Love is the only thing that we can carry with us when we go, and it makes the end so easy. — Louisa May Alcott

We're twins, and so we love each other more than other people. — Louisa May Alcott

life and love are very precious when both are in full bloom. — Louisa May Alcott

One of the sweet things about pain and sorrow is that they show us how well we are loved, how much kindness there is in the world, and how easily we can make others happy in the same way when they need help and sympathy. — Louisa May Alcott

You have grown abominably lazy, and you like gossip, and waste time on frivolous things, you are contented to be petted and admired by silly people, instead of being loved and respected by wise ones. — Louisa May Alcott

Honesty is the best policy, in love as in law. — Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott Quotes About Life

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 be delightful, old age will bring few regrets, and life will become a beautiful success. — Louisa May Alcott

Life is my college. May I graduate well, and earn some honors. — Louisa May Alcott

Marmee: Oh, Jo. Jo, you have so many extraordinary gifts; how can you expect to lead an ordinary life? You’re ready to go out and – and find a good use for your talent. Tho’ I don’t know what I shall do without my Jo. Go, and embrace your liberty. And see what wonderful things come of it. — Louisa May Alcott

Oft in the silence of the night, When the lonely moon rides high, When wintry winds are whistling, And we hear the owl's shrill cry, In the quiet, dusky chamber, By the flickering firelight, Rising up between two sleepers, Comes a spirit all in white. — Louisa May Alcott

In the books I read the sinners are always more interesting than the saints, and in real life good people are dismally dull. I've no desire to be wicked, but I do want to be happy. A short life and a gay one for me and I'm willing to pay for my pleasure if it is necessary. — Louisa May Alcott

A quick temper, sharp tongue, and restless spirit were always getting her into scrapes, and her life was a series of ups and downs, which were both comic and pathetic. — Louisa May Alcott

…she was one of those happily created beings who please without effort, make friends everywhere, and take life so gracefully and easily that less fortunate souls are tempted to believe that such are born under a lucky star. — Louisa May Alcott

…books are always good company if you have the right sort. Let me pick out some for you.' And Mrs. Jo made a bee-line to the well-laden shelves, which were the joy of her heart and the comfort of her life. — Louisa May Alcott

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. — Louisa May Alcott

Oh dear, life is pretty tough sometimes, isn't it? — Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott Quotes About Writing

I want to do something splendid… Something heroic or wonderful that won’t be forgotten after I’m dead… I think I shall write books. — Louisa May Alcott

Good books, like good friends, are few and chosen; the more select, the more enjoyable. — Louisa May Alcott

I often think flowers are the angels' alphabet whereby they write on hills and fields mysterious and beautiful lessons for us to feel and learn. — Louisa May Alcott

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. — Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott Quotes About Sisters

Help one another is part of the religion of our sisterhood. — Louisa May Alcott

…she'll go and fall in love, and there's an end of peace and fun, and cozy times together. — Louisa May Alcott

It's a great comfort to have an artistic sister. — Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott Quotes About Marriage

At twenty-five, girls begin to talk about being old maids, but secretly resolve that they never will. At thirty, they say nothing about it, but quietly accept the fact. — Louisa May Alcott

To marry without love betrays as surely as to love without marriage. — Louisa May Alcott

…marriage, they say, halves one's rights and doubles one's duties. — Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott Quotes About Family

My definition (of a philosopher) is of a man up in a balloon, with his family and friends holding the ropes which confine him to earth and trying to haul him down. — Louisa May Alcott

[Jo to her mother] I knew there was mischief brewing. I felt it and now it's worse than I imagined. I just wish I could marry Meg myself, and keep her safe in the family. — Louisa May Alcott

Go out more, keep cheerful as well as busy, for you are the sunshine-maker of the family, and if you get dismal there is no fair weather. — Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott Quotes About Inspiring

The rooms were very still while the pages were softly turned and the winter sunshine crept in to touch the bright heads and serious faces with a Christmas greeting. — Louisa May Alcott

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. — Louisa May Alcott

…to the inspiration of necessity, we owe half the wise, beautiful, and useful blessings of the world. — Louisa May Alcott

Simple, genuine goodness is the best capital to found the business of this life upon. It lasts when fame and money fail, and is the only riches we can take out of this world with us. — Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott Quotes About Learning

Painful as it may be, a significant emotional event can be the catalyst for choosing a direction that serves us - and those around us - more effectively. Look for the learning. — Louisa May Alcott

I'm not afraid of storms, for I'm learning to sail my ship. — Louisa May Alcott

It takes people a long time to learn the difference between talent and genius, especially ambitious young men and women. — Louisa May Alcott

I've learned to check the hasty words that rise to my lips, and when I feel that they mean to break out against my will, I just go away for a minute, and give myself a little shake for being so weak and wicked. — Louisa May Alcott

My father taught in the wise way which unfolds what lies in the child — Louisa May Alcott

...Meg learned to love her husband better for his poverty, because it seem to have made a man of him, giving him the strength and courage to fight his own way, and taught him a tender patience with which to bear and comfort the natural longings and failures of those he loved. — Louisa May Alcott

If you dear little girls would only learn what real beauty is, and not pinch and starve and bleach yourselves out so, you'd save an immense deal of time and money and pain. A happy soul in a healthy body makes the best sort of beauty for man or woman. — Louisa May Alcott

…in silence learned the sweet solace which affection administers to sorrow. — Louisa May Alcott

A child her wayward pencil drew On margins of her book; Garlands of flower, dancing elves, Bud, butterfly, and brook, Lessons undone, and plum forgot, Seeking with hand and heart The teacher whom she learned to love Before she knew t'was Art. — Louisa May Alcott

Do the things you know, and you shall learn the truth you need to know. — Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott Quotes About Talent

Conceit spoils the finest genius?and the great charm of all power is modesty. — Louisa May Alcott

You have a good many little gifts and virtues, but there is no need of parading them, for conceit spoils the finest genius. There is not much danger that real talent or goodness will be overlooked long, and the great charm of all power is modesty. — Louisa May Alcott

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

I want to be great, or nothing. I won't be a commonplace dauber, so I don't intend to try any more. — Louisa May Alcott

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. — Louisa May Alcott

We don't choose our talents; but we needn't hide them in a napkin because they are not just what we want. — Louisa May Alcott

Talent isn't genius, and no amount of energy can make it so. I want to be great, or nothing. I won't be a commonplace dauber, so I don't intend to try any more. — Louisa May Alcott

All the worse for the undeniable talent which hides the evil so subtly and makes the danger so delightful. — Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott Quotes About World

Mothers can forgive anything! Tell me all, and be sure that I will never let you go, though the whole world should turn from you. — Louisa May Alcott

People don't have fortunes left them in that style nowadays; men have to work and women to marry for money. It's a dreadfully unjust world. — Louisa May Alcott

Don't shut yourself up in a band box because you are a woman, but understand what is going on, and educate yourself to take part in the world's work, for it all affects you and yours. — Louisa May Alcott

It takes so little to make a child happy, that it is a pity in a world full of sunshine and pleasant things, that there should be any wistful faces, empty hands, or lonely little hearts. — Louisa May Alcott

Now and then, in this workaday world, things do happen in the delightful storybook fashion, and what a comfort that is. — Louisa May Alcott

Dear me, if men and women would only trust, understand, and help one another as my children do, what a capital place the world would be! — Louisa May Alcott

...and Jo laid the rustling sheets together with a careful hand, as one might shut the covers of a lovely romance, which holds the reader fast till the end comes, and he finds himself alone in the work-a-day world again. — Louisa May Alcott

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. — Louisa May Alcott

I will make a battering-ram of my head and make my way through this rough and tumble world. — Louisa May Alcott

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

Louisa May Alcott Famous Quotes And Sayings

Be comforted, dear soul! There is always light behind the clouds. — Louisa May Alcott

Happy is the son whose faith in his mother remains unchallenged. — Louisa May Alcott

Conceit spoils the finest genius. — Louisa May Alcott

A little kingdom I possess,Where thoughts and feelings dwell;And very hard the task I findOf governing it well. — Louisa May Alcott

I may be strong-minded, but no one can say I'm out of my sphere now, for woman's special mission is supposed to be drying tears and bearing burdens — Louisa May Alcott

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

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 for the fun of it. — Louisa May Alcott

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. — Louisa May Alcott

I never wanted to go away, and the hard part now is the leaving you all. I'm not afraid, but it seems as if I should be homesick for you even in heaven. — Louisa May Alcott

The mere possession of a gun is, in itself, an urge to kill, not only by design, but by accident, by madness, by fright, by bravado. — Louisa May Alcott

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. — Louisa May Alcott

Let my name stand among those who are willing to bear ridicule and reproach for the truth's sake, and so earn some right to rejoice when the victory is won. — Louisa May Alcott

. . . for when women are the advisers, the lords of creation don't take the advice till 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

November is the most disagreeable month in the whole year," said Margaret, standing at the window one dull afternoon, looking out at the frostbitten garden. "That's the reason I was born in it," observed Jo pensively, quite unconscious of the blot on her nose. — Louisa May Alcott

Men are always ready to die for us, but not to make our lives worth having. Cheap sentiment and bad logic. — Louisa May Alcott

You are the gull, Jo, strong and wild, fond of the storm and the wind, flying far out to sea, and happy all alone. — Louisa May Alcott

Education is not confined to books, and the finest characters often graduate from no college, but make experience their master, and life their book. [Some care] only for the mental culture, and [are] in danger of over-studying, under the delusion . . . that learning must be had at all costs, forgetting that health and real wisdom are better. — Louisa May Alcott

I've got the key to my castle in the air, but whether I can unlock the door remains to be seen. — Louisa May Alcott

I'd rather take coffee than compliments just now. — Louisa May Alcott

"Stay" is a charming word in a friend's vocabulary. — Louisa May Alcott

People want to be amused, not preached at, you know. Morals don't sell nowadays. — Louisa May Alcott

You don’t need scores of suitors. You need only one… if he’s the right one. — Louisa May Alcott

Young men often laugh at the sensible girls whom they secretly respect, and affect to admire the silly ones whom they secretly despise, because earnestness, intelligence, and womanly dignity are not the fashion. — Louisa May Alcott

Persuasive influences are better than any amount of moralizing. — Louisa May Alcott

I don't think it's fair for some girls to have plenty of pretty things, and other girls nothing at all. — Louisa May Alcott

It takes two flints to make a fire. — Louisa May Alcott

A little kingdom I possess, where thoughts and feelings dwell; And very hard the task I find of governing it well. — Louisa May Alcott

Madam de Stael pronounced architecture to be frozen music; so is statuary crystalized spirituality. — Louisa May Alcott

Housekeeping ain't no joke. — Louisa May Alcott

Men are often bad, but babies never are. — Louisa May Alcott

Meg's high-heeled slippers were dreadfully tight, and hurt her, though she would not own it; and Jo's nineteen hair-pins all seemed stuck straight into her head, which was not exactly comfortable; but, dear me, let us be elegant or die. — Louisa May Alcott

Have your fun, my dear; but if you must earn your bread, try to make it sweet with cheerfulness, not bitter with the daily regret that it isn't cake. — Louisa May Alcott

Dolls are safe companions. — Louisa May Alcott

But many of the bravest never are known, and get no praise. That does not lessen their beauty. — Louisa May Alcott

It takes very little fire to make a great deal of smoke nowadays, and notoriety is not real glory. — Louisa May Alcott

Wild roses are fairest, and nature a better gardener than art. — Louisa May Alcott

To be strong, and beautiful, and go round making music all the time. Yes, she could do that, and with a very earnest prayer Polly asked for the strength of an upright soul, the beauty of a tender heart, the power to make her life a sweet and stirring song, helpful while it lasted, remembered when it died. — Louisa May Alcott

It’s amazing how lovely common things become, if one only knows how to look at them. — Louisa May Alcott

Books are always good company if you have the right sort. — Louisa May Alcott

What do girls do who haven't any mothers to help them through their troubles? — Louisa May Alcott

Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents. — Louisa May Alcott

…often between ourselves and those nearest and dearest to us there exists a reserve which it is very hard to overcome. — Louisa May Alcott

Money is a needful and precious thing, and when well used, a noble thing, but I never want you to think it is the first or only prize to strive for. I'd rather see you poor men's wives, if you were happy, beloved, contented, than queens on thrones, without self-respect and peace. — Louisa May Alcott

If we are all alive ten years hence, let's meet, and see how many of us have got our wishes, or how much nearer we are then than now. — Louisa May Alcott

…proved that woman isn't a half but a whole human being, and can stand alone. — Louisa May Alcott

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. (Amy March) — Louisa May Alcott

You may try your experiment for a week and see how you like it. I think by Saturday night you will find that all play and no work is as bad as all work and no play — Louisa May Alcott

John Brooke is acting dreadfully, and Meg likes it! — Louisa May Alcott

Love scenes, if genuine, are indescribable; for to those who have enacted them the most elaborate description seems tame, and to those who have not, the simplest picture seems overdone. — Louisa May Alcott

…tomorrow was her birthday, and she was thinking how fast the years went by, how old she was getting, and how little she seemed to have accomplished. Almost twenty-five and nothing to show for it. — Louisa May Alcott

...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. — Louisa May Alcott

I'll try and be what he loves to call me, 'a little woman,' and not be rough and wild, but do my duty here instead of wanting to be somewhere else. — Louisa May Alcott

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. — Louisa May Alcott

Prosperity suits some people, and they blossom best in a glow of sunshine; others need the shade, and are the sweeter for a touch of frost. — Louisa May Alcott

We've got minds and souls as well as hearts; ambition and talents as well as beauty and accomplishments; and we want to live and learn as well as love and be loved. I'm sick of being told that is all a woman is fit for! I won't have anything to do with love until I prove that I am something beside a housekeeper and a baby-tender! — Louisa May Alcott

Poor dull Concord. Nothing colorful has come through here since the Redcoats. — Louisa May Alcott

I could have been a great many things. — Louisa May Alcott

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. — Louisa May Alcott

The humblest tasks get beautified if loving hands do them. — Louisa May Alcott

Resolved to take fate by the throat and shake a living out of her. — Louisa May Alcott

Life Lessons by Louisa May Alcott

1. Louisa May Alcott teaches us to remain true to ourselves and our values, no matter what obstacles we face. She also encourages us to be brave in the face of adversity and to never give up on our dreams.
2. She also emphasizes the importance of family, friendship, and hard work, and reminds us to be kind to others and to appreciate the beauty in life.
3. Finally, her works show us that with a positive attitude and perseverance, anything is possible.