Austen Quotes to Make Your Twitter More Literary

There’s just something about Jane Austen that draws me — and everyone else — to her. I wouldn’t necessarily consider myself a romantic person (in the past I’ve been called “unfeeling” and “an emotional black hole,” if you want to get nit-picky here), but even I get swept up in Austen’s world. Seriously, has anyone ever read Pride and Prejudice and NOT imagined themselves as Elizabeth Bennet, getting courted by the grumpy but wonderful Mr. Darcy? Or watched the film version of Sense and Sensibility and not swooned when Alan Rickman carries Kate Winslet through the rain? It’s physically impossible.

So, basically what I’m saying is that, if you’re anything like me, you’re constantly playing out a Jane Austen-inspired fantasy in your head. Instead of keeping it a secret from your more normal (and by that I mean boring and unimaginative) friends, embrace it. And where’s a better place to let your Jane Austen freak flag fly than the Internet?

Here are 19 Jane Austen quotes that perfectly describe your life, and are still short enough to fit in a tweet. So go ahead; throw some shade Mr. Darcy-style, or channel your inner diva through Emma. Whatever you’re feeling, Jane Austen’s characters felt it first, and are here as emotional support for you. What more could you ask for from a book?

WHEN YOU’RE SO IN LOVE IT’S DISGUSTING

• “To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love” (Pride and Prejudice)

• “If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.” (Emma)

• “I come here with no expectations, only to profess, now that I am at liberty to do so, that my heart is and always will be yours.” (Sense and Sensibility)

WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE TIME FOR ANYONE’S B.S.

• “There are few people whom I really love and still fewer of whom I think well. The more I see of the world the more am I dissatisfied with it” (Pride and Prejudice)

• “Life seems but a quick succession of busy nothings” (Mansfield Park)

• “Angry people are not always wise” (Pride and Prejudice)

• “No man dies of love but on the stage” (Mansfield Park)

WHEN YOU’RE HAVING THE BEST DAY EVER

• “I must learn to be content with being happier than I deserve.” (Pride and Prejudice)

• “Why not seize the pleasure at once? How often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparation!” (Emma)

• “Know your own happiness. You want nothing but patience — or give it a more fascinating name, call it hope.” (Sense and Sensibility)

• “Every moment has its pleasures and its hope” (Mansfield Park)

WHEN YOU’RE A STRONG, INDEPENDENT WOMAN AND YOU DON’T NEED A MAN

• “I will be calm. I will be mistress of myself” (Sense and Sensibility)

• “We have all a better guide in ourselves, if we would attend to it, than any other person can be” (Mansfield Park)

• “There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others” (Pride and Prejudice)

• “I always deserve the best treatment because I never put up with any other” (Emma)

• “You must be the best judge of your own happiness” (Emma)

• “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” (Pride and Prejudice)

• “I may have lost my heart, but not my self-control” (Emma)

• “The more I know of the world, the more I am convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love. I require so much!” (Sense and Sensibility)

Images: Viviane K, Daniela Aguayo, A&Ephotos, Copetan (2)/Flickr