Who said it — Miss Austen or Lord Byron? — ANSWERS
- My laurels have turned my brain, but the cooling
acids of forthcoming criticism will probably restore me to
modesty. {Lord Byron; letter to Elizabeth Bridget Pigot, August 2, 1807}
- Comfort must not be expected by folks that go a pleasuring.
{Lord Byron; letter to Francis Hodgson, July 16, 1809}
- ...my hearing nothing of you makes me apprehensive that you,
your fellow travellers, and all your effects, might be seized
by the bailiffs when you stopt at the house, and sold
altogether for the benefit of the creditors. {Jane Austen;
Letter to CA, October 25, 1800}
- I am very serious and cynical, and a good deal disposed to
moralise; but fortunately for you the coming homily is cut off
by default of pen and defection of paper. {Lord Byron; letter
to Francis Hodgson, May 5, 1810}
- You cannot conceive what a delightful companion you are now
you are gone. {Lord Byron; letter to JCH, July 30, 1810}
- When I saw the waggons at the door, and thought of all the
trouble they must have in moving, I began to reproach myself
for not having liked them better; but since the waggons have
disappeared my conscience has been closed again, and I am
excessively glad they are gone. {Jane Austen, letter of September 28 1814}
- I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves
me the trouble of liking them a great deal. {Jane
Austen; Letter to CA, December 24, 1798}
- How dull he is! I wish the dog had any bad qualities
that one might not be ashamed of disliking him. {Lord Byron;
letter to JCH, October 14, 1811}
- ...indeed I do not think publishing at all creditable either
to men or women, and (though you will not believe me) very
often feel ashamed of it myself... {Lord Byron; letter to Lady
CL, May 1, 1812}
- Since I wrote last, my 2nd edit. has stared me in the
face. [...] I cannot help hoping that many will feel
themselves obliged to buy it. I shall not mind imagining it a
disagreeable duty to them, so as they do it. {Jane Austen, letter of November 6th 1813}
- I... do not think the worse of him for having a brain
so very different from mine. ... And he deserves better
treatment than to be obliged to read any more of my
works. {Jane Austen, letter of March 23 1817}
- London is very dull, and I am still duller than London. Now
I am at a stand still — what shall I say next? I must have
recourse to hoping. This then 'comes hoping' that you survived
the dust of your journey and the fatigue of not dancing at
Lady Clonmell's the night before. I hope moreover that you
will not gladden the eyes and break the hearts of the Royal
Corps of Marines at Plymouth for sometime to come... {Lord
Byron; letter to MME, July 29, 1812}
- Here I am once more in this scene of dissipation and
vice, and I begin already to find my morals corrupted. {Jane Austen, letter
of August 1796}
- Take care of yourself, and do not be trampled to death in
running after the Emperor. {Jane Austen, Letter to CA, June
13, 1814}
- ...a woman should never be seen eating or drinking, unless
it be lobster salad and champagne, the only
truly feminine and becoming viands. {Lord Byron; letter to
Lady M, September 25, 1812}
- Madame Stael... hath published an Essay against Suicide,
which, I presume, will make somebody shoot himself... {Lord
Byron; letter to TM, July 8, 1813}
- Unluckily however, I see nothing to be glad of, unless
I make it a matter of Joy that Mrs. Wylmot has another son,
& that Lord Lucan has taken a Mistress, both of which
Events are of course joyful to the Actors. {Jane Austen, letter of February
8th 1807}
- I believe I drank too much wine last night at
Hurstbourne; I know not how else to account for the shaking of
my hand to-day. You will kindly make allowance therefore for
any indistinctness of writing, by attributing it to this
venial error. {Jane Austen, letter of November 20 1800}
- If you don't answer this [letter], I sha'nt say what you
deserve, but I think I deserve a reply. {Lord Byron;
letter to TM, July 8, 1813}
- You deserve a longer letter than this; but it is my
unhappy fate seldom to treat people so well as they
deserve. {Jane Austen, letter of December 24 1798}
- ...there is no comedy after all like real life. {Lord Byron;
letter to Lady M, October 14, 1813}
- ...except all night and some part of the morning, I don't
think much about the matter. {Lord Byron; letter to Lady M,
[November] 1813}
- I begin to think I like every body;
— a disposition not to
be encouraged; — a sort of social gluttony that swallows every
thing set before it. {Lord Byron; Journal, November 22, 1813}
- I cannot anyhow continue to find people agreeable; I
respect Mrs. Chamberlayne for doing her hair well, but cannot
feel a more tender sentiment. Miss Langley is like any other
short girl, with a broad nose and wide mouth, fashionable
dress and exposed bosom.... {Jane Austen, letter of May 12, 1801}
- I dine with him to-morrow, which may have some influence on
my opinion. It is as well not to trust one's gratitude after
dinner. {Lord Byron; Journal, November 22, 1813}
- The word 'sensibility' (always my aversion) occurs a
thousand times in these Essays; and, it seems, is to be an
excuse for all kinds of discontent. {Lord Byron; Journal,
November 22, 1813}
- The reason adulation is not displeasing is, that, though
untrue, it shows one to be of consequence enough, in one way
or another, to induce people to lie... {Lord Byron; Journal,
November 30, 1813}
- Any other head would be turned with half her acquisitions,
and a tenth of her advantages. {Lord Byron; Journal, November
30, 1813}
- The Duke of ** called... His Grace is a good, noble, ducal
person; but I am content to think so at a distance... {Lord
Byron; Journal, December 5, 1813}
- ...she always talks of myself or herself, and
I am not... much enamoured of either subject... {Lord Byron;
Journal, December 5, 1813}
- The more I see of men, the less I like them. {Lord Byron;
Journal, February 18, 1814}
- The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with
it... {Jane Austen; words of Elizabeth Bennet in Pride
& Prejudice, Chapter 24}
JCH — John Cam Hobhouse
Lady CL — Lady Caroline Lambe
Lady M — Lady Melbourne
MME — Miss Mercer Elphinstone
TM — Thomas Moore
|
