Jane Austen Quote of the Week 277

Hayley Atwell as Mary Crawford, Mansfield Park 2007

I received an email a few days ago that brought me disappointment. It was announcing the result of a long-awaited funding proposal result, which turned out to be negative. It was the second time I tried for this donor, and I still failed. I do see that their arguments in rejecting my proposal were valid, and I am determined to improve it for the next time. However, I am still disappointed.

Then I looked for Jane Austen's advice for disappointment, and I found this below, from Mansfield Park chapter 5. I think Rachel has posted this quote a while ago (spoken by Mary Crawford), but since it resonates with my heart at the moment, I choose to repost it here.

"...you see but half. You see the evil, but you do not see the consolation. There will be little rubs and disappointments everywhere, and we are all apt to expect too much; but then, if one scheme of happiness fails, human nature turns to another; if the first calculation is wrong, we make a second better: we find comfort somewhere."

I hope if you do encounter disappointments, you will find the silver lining and move on. Try again, or try another thing, and move on.