Jane Austen Quote of the Week 297

Cinderella (Lily James) and Prince Kit (Richard Madden) dancing in the 2015 Cinderella

Happy Easter, everyone!  May you have the Universe’s blessings with you always.

Since it’s Easter, I was thinking of finding an Easter-related quote.  But since I’ve been in love with Cinderella 2015 (oh what a beautiful movie...Kenneth Branagh is an amazing director!), and some of the Cinderella quotes actually resonated with Jane Austen’s quotes, I’d take a quote shared between Cinderella and Miss Austen. In this case, Miss Anne Elliot.

From Persuasion, Chapter 16, Anne described what good company was to her:

''My idea of good company ... is the company of clever, well-informed people who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company.''

To which Mr Elliot replied that she was mistaken, for “that is not good company; that is the best.”

Ella meets Kit for the first time

While Cinderella, having been banished by her stepmother to live in the attic, actually thought that no company is better than poor company. And those few friends she had, she treated with love and kindness. I have “only” watched the movie twice (actually planning for the 3^rd one... blame Lily James’ and Richard Madden’s sizzling on-screen chemistry as Cinderella and the Prince), so I don’t remember the verbatim words. But according to the Elephant Journal, it should be something like this:

It’s better to be alone, than be surrounded by poor company.
She had few friends, but the ones she had, “she treated with an open heart and an open hand.”

Well, I hope you’ve been having good company during this Easter, the ones who love you just as you are and treat you with open heart and open hand... And if you have not found your best company, I hope you will be soon, just like the new Cinderella meets her Prince on an equal ground.

Jane Austen Quote of the Week 288 (New Year)

I was supposed to post something last Sunday; I meant to post something about the end of a chapter (Year End) and then let Linda post something about the new beginning (New Year). However, I've been traveling and I couldn't get a decent internet to post anything. Hence this post, which I hope does not duplicate Linda's intended quote later.

Anyway. About New Year: I found a very nice quote about Persuasion from Classiclitabout.com. I'm not sure who summarised this particular contemporary article on Persuasion, could be editor Adam Burgess; but I really like it because it captured the essence of Persuasion. The original article itself was written by authoress Laurie Viera Rigler and can be found here. The quote I'm referring to is this:

"Bringing in a New Year is all about second chances. This year, we vow, we will do it right. We have a second chance to take better care of ourselves. We have a second chance to be kinder, wiser, and better human beings."

And the most related paragraph of Persuasion, according to Laurie, would be this one from Capt Wentworth himself to Anne Elliot:

"I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. 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. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant. You alone have brought me to Bath. For you alone, I think and plan. Have you not seen this? Can you fail to have understood my wishes? I had not waited even these ten days, could I have read your feelings, as I think you must have penetrated mine. I can hardly write. I am every instant hearing something which overpowers me. You sink your voice, but I can distinguish the tones of that voice when they would be lost on others. Too good, too excellent creature! You do us justice, indeed. You do believe that there is true attachment and constancy among men. Believe it to be most fervent, most undeviating, in
F. W."

Ms Rigler was right. This is the quote that caught my attention the most. 

"Tell me not that I am too late."

Well, I agree that New Year is New Beginning, and about second chances. I have my new beginnings to plan ahead. What are your new beginnings, my dear friends?