I pay very little regard...to what any young person says on the subject of marriage. If they profess a disinclination for it, I only set it down that they have not yet seen the right person.
Nobody can tell what I suffer! But it is always so. Those who do not complain are never pitied.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the unrecognized struggles of individuals and the idea that silence in suffering often leads to a lack of empathy from others.
In this quote, Jane Austen emphasizes that personal suffering is often invisible to others, and that those who endure pain without expressing it may find themselves without sympathy or compassion from the outside world. It speaks to the human condition of isolation in our struggles and the societal tendency to overlook those who do not vocalize their experiences, suggesting that expressing pain can evoke empathy, while silence can lead to neglect.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about mental health awareness to highlight the importance of recognizing unspoken struggles.
More from Jane Austen
All quotes βNobody could catch cold by the sea; nobody wanted appetite by the sea; nobody wanted spirits; nobody wanted strength. Sea air was healing, softening, relaxing - fortifying and bracing - seemingly just as was wanted - sometimes one, sometimes the other. If the sea breeze failed, the seabath was the certain corrective; and where bathing disagreed, the sea air alone was evidently designed by nature for the cure.
He certainly is very agreeable, and I give you leave to like him. You have liked many a stupider person.
A person who is knowingly bent on bad behavior, gets upset when better behavior is expected of them.
You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever.
She hoped to be wise and reasonable in time; but alas! Alas! She must confess to herself that she was not wise yet.
Similar quotes
Pay attention to the hungry, both in this country and around the world. Pay attention to the poor. Pay attention to our responsibilities for world peace. We are our brother's keeper.
Laughter is more sacred than prayer, dancing more spiritual than chanting mantras, loving existence more cosmic than going to a church.
Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red.
In the Kingdom of Heaven, there is no grandeur to be won, inasmuch as there all is an established hierarchy, the unknown is revealed, existence is infinite, there is no possibility of sacrifice, all is rest and joy. For this reason, bowed down by suffering and duties, beautiful in the midst of his misery, capable of loving in the face of afflictions and trials, man finds his greatness, his fullest measure, only in The Kingdom of This World.
For the world, I count it not an inn, but a hospital; and a place not to live, but to die in.
Meditation is an insight that all goals are false. Meditation is an understanding that desires don't lead anywhere. Seeing that... And this is not a belief that you can get from me or from Buddha or from Jesus. This is not knowledge; you will have to see it. You can see it right now!