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I have been a selfish being all my life, in practice, though not in principle.

Jane Austen

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Jane Austen
Age: 101 †
Born: 1775
Born: December 16
Died: 1877
Died: July 24
Novelist
Short Story Writer
Writer
Steventon
Hampshire
Life
Selfishness
Selfish
Principle
Principles
Practice
Though

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Elinor was to be the comforter of others in her own distresses, no less than in theirs and all the comfort that could be given by assurances of her own composure of mind, and a very earnest vindication of Edward from every charge but of imprudence, was readily offered.
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On every formal visit a child ought to be of the party, by way of provisions for discourse.
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You expect me to account for opinions which you choose to call mine, but which I have never acknowledged.
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Her mind was all disorder. The past, present, future, every thing was terrible.
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There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.
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Where a man does his best with only moderate powers, he will have the advantage over negligent superiority.
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I am happier than Jane she only smiles, I laugh. Mr. Darcy sends you all the love in the world, that he can spare from me.
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Self-knowledge is the first step to maturity.
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You are mistaken, Mr. Darcy, if you suppose that the mode of your declaration affected me in any other way, than as it spared the concern which I might have felt in refusing you, had you behaved in a more gentlemanlike manner.
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How quick come the reasons for approving what we like!
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I am no longer surprised at your knowing only six accomplished women. I rather wonder now at your knowing any.
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there is not the least wit in my nature. I am a very matter of fact, plain spoken being, and may blunder on the borders of a repartee for half an hour together without striking it out.
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Each found her greatest safety in silence.
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A man . . . must have a very good opinion of himself when he asks people to leave their own fireside, and encounter such a day as this, for the sake of coming to see him. He must think himself a most agreeable fellow.
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We can all begin freely—a slight preference is natural enough but there are very few of us who have heart enough to be really in love without encouragement.
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In every power, of which taste is the foundation, excellence is pretty fairly divided between the sexes.
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One cannot be always laughing at a man without now and then stumbling on something witty.
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No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy, would have supposed her born to be a heroine... But from fifteen to seventeen she was in training for a heroine.
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... strange things may be generally accounted for if their cause be fairly seached out.
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Every impulse of feeling should be guided by reason and, in my opinion, exertion should always be in proportion to what is required.
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