Top 500 Louisa May Alcott Quotes (2025 Update)
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101. “Our burdens are here, our road is before us, and the longing for goodness and happiness is the guide that leads us through many troubles and mistakes to the peace which is a true Celestial City.”

— Louisa May Alcott

102. “Good, old-fashioned ways keep hearts sweet, heads sane, hands busy.”

— Louisa May Alcott

103. “To be loved and chosen by a good man is the best and sweetest thing which can happen to a woman, and I sincerely hope my girls may know this beautiful experience.”

— Louisa May Alcott

104. “Oh, Jo, how could you? Your one beauty.”

— Louisa May Alcott

105. “I find it poor logic to say that because women are good, women should vote. Men do not vote because they are good; they vote because they are male, and women should vote, not because we are angels and men are animals, but because we are human beings and citizens of this country.”

— Louisa May Alcott

106. “When you feel discontented, think over your blessings, and be grateful.”

— Louisa May Alcott

107. “I don’t believe I shall ever marry; I’m happy as I am, and love my liberty too well to be in any hurry to give it up for any mortal man.”

— Louisa May Alcott

108. “A real gentleman is as polite to a little girl as to a woman.”

— Louisa May Alcott

109. “That’s just why, because 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 common-place dauber, so I don’t intend to try any more.”

— Louisa May Alcott

110. “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

111. “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

112. “And when they went away, leaving comfort behind, I think there were not in all the city four merrier people than the hungry little girls who gave away their breakfasts and contented themselves with bread and milk on Christmas morning.”

— Louisa May Alcott

113. “Do the things you know, and you shall learn the truth you need to know.”

— Louisa May Alcott

114. “Our actions are in our own hands, but the consequences of them are not. Remember that, my dear, and think twice before you do anything.”

— Louisa May Alcott

115. “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

116. “Don’t cry so bitterly, but remember this day, and resolve with all your soul that you will never know another like it.”

— Louisa May Alcott

117. “I had a pleasant time with my mind, for it was happy.”

— Louisa May Alcott

118. “I like good strong words that mean something.”

— Louisa May Alcott

119. “Youth, health and freedom were meant to be enjoyed and I want to try every pleasure before I am too old to enjoy them.”

— Louisa May Alcott

120. “I don’t envy her much, in spite of her money, for after all rich people have about as many worries as poor ones, I think.”

— Louisa May Alcott

121. “I want to do something splendid before I go into my castle, something heroic or wonderful that won’t be forgotten after I’m dead. I don’t know what, but I’m on the watch for it, and mean to astonish you all some day.”

— Louisa May Alcott

122. “I’m perfectly miserable; but if you consider me presentable, I die happy.”

— Louisa May Alcott

123. “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

124. “El amor expulsa al miedo y la gratitud doblega al orgullo.”

— Louisa May Alcott

125. “E’ dalle piccolezze che si vede il carattere delle persone.”

— Louisa May Alcott

126. “For the parents who had taught one child to meet death without fear, were trying now to teach another to accept life without despondency or distrust, and to use its beautiful opportunities with gratitude and power.”

— Louisa May Alcott

127. “Earth hath no sorrow that heaven cannot heal;.”

— Louisa May Alcott

128. “Sometimes when we least expect it, a small cross proves a lovely crown, a seemingly unimportant event becomes a lifelong experience, or a stranger becomes a friend.”

— Louisa May Alcott

129. “There should always be one old maid in a family.”

— Louisa May Alcott

130. “I am glad a task to me is given, To labor at day by day, For it brings me health and strength and hope, And I cheerfully learn to say, “Head, you may think, Heart, you may feel, But, Hand, you shall work alway!”

— Louisa May Alcott

131. “Some days must be dark and sad and dreary.”

— Louisa May Alcott

132. “I can’t do it. I wasn’t meant for a life like this, and I know I shall break away and do something desperate if somebody doesn’t come and help me,” she said to herself, when her first efforts failed and she fell into the moody, miserable state of mind which often comes when strong wills have to yield to the inevitable.”

— Louisa May Alcott

133. “Wait for me, my friend. I may be a little late, but I shall surely come.”

— Louisa May Alcott

134. “Elegance has a bad effect on my constitution.”

— Louisa May Alcott

135. “I for one don’t want to be ranked among idiots, felons, and minors any longer, for I am none of them.”

— Louisa May Alcott

136. “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

137. “I want to be great, or nothing.”

— Louisa May Alcott

138. “I don’t like to doze by the fire. I like adventures, and I’m going to find some.”

— Louisa May Alcott

139. “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

140. “Every house needs a grandmother in it.”

— Louisa May Alcott

141. “I make so many beginnings there never will be an end.”

— Louisa May Alcott

142. “But buds will be roses, and kittens, cats – more’s the pity.”

— Louisa May Alcott

143. “I’ll try to be what Father 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

144. “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

145. “A little kingdom I possess, where thoughts and feelings dwell; And very hard the task I find of governing it well.”

— Louisa May Alcott

146. “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

147. “It is an excellent plan to have some place where we can go to be quiet, when things vex or grieve us. There are a good many hard times in this life of ours, but we can always bear them if we ask help in the right way.”

— Louisa May Alcott

148. “Don’t, Jo. It’s so boyish!” “That’s why I do it.” “I detest rude, unladylike girls!” “I hate affected, niminy-piminy chits!”

— Louisa May Alcott

149. “Simple, sincere people seldom speak much of their piety; it shows itself in acts rather than words, and has more influence than homilies or protestations.”

— Louisa May Alcott

150. “Cheerfulness can change misfortune into love and friends.”

— Louisa May Alcott