Friday 6 June 2008

JA Quote Week Seven by Linda

The following quote is special for its very personal meaning to me.

Elinor agreed to it all, for she did not think he deserved the compliment of rational opposition.

(Sense and Sensibility, Bantam Books 1983, Chapter 36, page 218)

Have you ever known someone who was so convinced that every word they uttered was absolutely correct with no room for error? I have. I only wish I had had the above quote at hand to remind me of the correct attitude to take towards such a person.

After reading that quote, it brought to mind a saying that my 10th grade English teacher put up on our blackboard as a “Thought for Today” feature that she blessed us with. It said: “Some people’s minds are like concrete, thoroughly mixed up and firmly set.”

Hopefully, you do not know such a person, but if you should, please be kind and keep this quote in mind.

Once again, this proves how ‘up-to-date’, ‘with it’, or whatever you call it, that our dear Jane was, and most especially, how people have not changed in all the intervening years, or before her time, for that matter.

Linda the Librarian

Pic: Emma Thomson's Elinor Dashwood from Jane Austen Info

3 comments:

Icha said...

Hi dear Linda,

Sorry for missing this very quote you opted last week; I'd been going around the clock that time. Strangely though, because of what I wrote for JA Quote week 8 just now (see above), what you wrote here suddenly made sense. I hope I was not grouped as someone who didn't deserve the compliment of rational opposition.

And yes, JA is SO up-to-date!

Michelle said...

Oh Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinda, I know someone JUST.LIKE.THIS. Thank you for this quote - I would never have put the two together. :) Dear Jane, what a master of the humanity.

Rachel said...

This is also why I LOVE Sense and Sensibility so much- you have the epitome of wisdom Elinor which is in direct contrast to the soppyness and romaticist attitude of Marianne. Yet we love them both!