Top 500 Louisa May Alcott Quotes (2025 Update)
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351. “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

352. “I think she is growing up, and so begins to dream dreams, and have hopes and fears and fidgets, without knowing why or being able to explain them.”

— Louisa May Alcott

353. “The small hopes and plans and pleasures of children should be tenderly respected by grown-up people, and never rudely thwarted or ridiculed.”

— Louisa May Alcott

354. “Life is my university, and I hope to graduate from it with some distinction.”

— Louisa May Alcott

355. “A kiss for a blow is always best, though it’s not very easy to give it sometimes.”

— Louisa May Alcott

356. “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

357. “Your father, Jo. He never loses patience, never doubts or complains, but always hopes, and works and waits so cheerfully that one is ashamed to do otherwise before him.”

— Louisa May Alcott

358. “It takes people a long time to learn the difference between talent and genius, especially ambitious young men and women.”

— Louisa May Alcott

359. “Work is wholesome, and there is plenty for everyone. It keeps us from ennui and mischief, is good for health and spirits, and gives us a sense of power and independence better than money or fashion.”

— Louisa May Alcott

360. “But please hug and kiss me, everyone, and don’t mind my dress, I want a great many crumples of this sort put into it today.”

— Louisa May Alcott

361. “I rather miss my wild girl; but if I get a strong, helpful, tender-hearted woman in her place, I shall feel quite satisfied.”

— Louisa May Alcott

362. “Dan clung to her in speechless gratitude, feeling the blessedness of mother love, – that divine gift which comforts, purifies, and strengthens all who seek it.”

— Louisa May Alcott

363. “You look like Balzac’s ‘Femme Peinte Par Elle – Meme’,” he said, as he fanned her with one hand and held her coffee cup in the other.”

— Louisa May Alcott

364. “She had cherished her anger till it grew strong and took possession of her, as evil thoughts and feelings always do unless cast out at once.”

— Louisa May Alcott

365. “I’ve neither beauty, money, nor rank, yet every foolish boy mistakes my frank interest for something warmer, and makes me miserable. It is my misfortune. Think of me what you will, but beware of me in time, for against my will I may do you harm.”

— Louisa May Alcott

366. “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

367. “Her father called her ‘Little Tranquillity’, and the name suited her excellently; for she seemed to live in a happy world of her own, only venturing out to meet the few whom she trusted and loved.”

— Louisa May Alcott

368. “When Mr. March lost his property in trying to help an unfortunate friend, the two oldest girls begged to be allowed to do something toward their own support, at least. Believing that they could not begin too early to cultivate energy, industry, and independence, their parents consented, and both fell to work with the hearty good-will which in spite of all obstacles, is sure to succeed at last.”

— Louisa May Alcott

369. “Men are always ready to die for us, but not to make our lives worth having. Cheap sentiment and bad logic.”

— Louisa May Alcott

370. “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.”

— Louisa May Alcott

371. “It seems as if I could do anything when I’m in a passion. I get so savage, I could hurt anyone and enjoy it. I’m afraid I shall do something dreadful some day, and spoil my life, and make everybody hate me. Oh, Mother, help me, do help me!”

— Louisa May Alcott

372. “Don’t try to make me grow up before my time, Meg; it’s hard enough to have you change all of a sudden; let me be a little girl as long as I can.”

— Louisa May Alcott

373. “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

374. “But it did her good, for those whose opinion had real value gave her the criticism which is an author’s best education; and when the first soreness was over, she could laugh at her poor little book, yet believe in it still, and feel herself the wiser and stronger for the buffeting she had received.”

— Louisa May Alcott

375. “We’ll all grow up Meg, no pretending we won’t.”

— Louisa May Alcott

376. “Young people think they never can change, but they do in the most wonderful manner, and very few die of broken hearts.”

— Louisa May Alcott

377. “Life is like college; may I graduate and earn some honors.”

— Louisa May Alcott

378. “Fame is a pearl many dive for and only a few bring up. Even when they do, it is not perfect, and they sigh for more, and lose better things in struggling for them.”

— Louisa May Alcott

379. “When the writing fit came on, she gave herself up to it with entire abandon, and led a blissful life, unconscious of want, care, or bad weather, while she sat safe and happy in an imaginary world, full of friends almost as real and dear to her as any in the flesh.”

— Louisa May Alcott

380. “We live in a beautiful and wonderful world, Demi, and the more you now about it the wiser and the better you will be.”

— Louisa May Alcott

381. “But, Polly, a principle that can’t bear being laughed at, frowned on, and cold-shouldered, isn’t worthy of the name.”

— Louisa May Alcott

382. “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. Jo enjoyed a taste of this satisfaction, and ceased to envy richer girls, taking great comfort in the knowledge that she could supply her own wants, and need ask no one for a penny.”

— Louisa May Alcott

383. “During the fifteen minutes that followed, the proud and sensitive girl suffered a shame and pain which she never forgot. To others it might seem a ludicrous or trivial affair, but to her it was a hard experience, for during the twelve years of her life she had been governed by love alone.”

— Louisa May Alcott

384. “The scar will remain, but it is better for a man to lose both arms than his soul; and these hard years, instead of being lost, may be made the most precious of your lives, if they teach you to rule yourselves.”

— Louisa May Alcott

385. “Liberty must not be abused.”

— Louisa May Alcott

386. “Happy the son whose faith in his mother remains unchanged, and who, through all his wanderings, has kept some filial token to repay her brave and tender love. Dan.”

— Louisa May Alcott

387. “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

388. “Fame is a very good thing to have in the house, but cash is more convenient.”

— Louisa May Alcott

389. “My father taught in the wise way which unfolds what lies in the child.”

— Louisa May Alcott

390. “Persuasive influences are better than any amount of moralizing.”

— Louisa May Alcott

391. “The young people were playing that still more absorbing game in which hearts are always trumps.”

— Louisa May Alcott

392. “Seldom except in books do the dying utter memorable words, see visions, or depart with beatified countenances, and those who have sped many parting souls know that to most the end comes as naturally and simply as sleep.”

— Louisa May Alcott

393. “El deseo verdadero de cambiar supone tener media batalla ganada.”

— Louisa May Alcott

394. “It’s lovely to see people so happy.”

— Louisa May Alcott

395. “Beautiful souls often get put into plain bodies, but they cannot be hidden, and have a power all their own, the greater for the unconsciousness or the humility which gives it grace.”

— Louisa May Alcott

396. “I hate to think I’ve got to grow up, and be Miss March, and wear long gowns, and look as prim as a China Aster! It’s bad enough to be a girl, anyway, when I like boy’s games and work and manners! I can’t get over my disappointment in not being a boy. And it’s worse than ever now, for I’m dying to go and fight with Papa. And I can only stay home and knit, like a poky old woman!”

— Louisa May Alcott

397. “But a time came when her patience gave out; and wearying of being a lion, she became a bear in nature as in name, and returning to her den, growled awfully when ordered out.”

— Louisa May Alcott

398. “We never are too old for this, my dear, because it is a play we are playing all the time in one way or another. Out 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. Now, my little pilgrims, suppose you begin again, not in play, but in earnest, and see how far on you can get before Father comes home.”

— Louisa May Alcott

399. “It was forunate that tea was at hand, to produce a lull and provide refreshment...”

— Louisa May Alcott

400. “I want my daughters to be beautiful, accomplished, and good; to be admired, loved, and respected, to have a happy youth, to be well and wisely married, and to lead useful, pleasant lives, with as little care and sorrow to try them as God sees fit to send. 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