The very first moment I beheld him, my heart was irrevocably gone.

Jane Austen · Laura's account of meeting Edward in the comic novel Austen wrote at fourteen, which mocks the swooning heroines of her day; the line is now quoted with a straight face.

My affections and wishes are unchanged; but one word from you will silence me on this subject for ever.

Jane Austen · Darcy's second proposal, on the walk to Lucas Lodge, offered the way the first was not: ready to take no for an answer. This time the answer is yes.

I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.

Jane Austen · Darcy's answer, near the end of the novel, when Elizabeth asks him how he came to fall in love with her.

In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.

Jane Austen · Mr. Darcy's first proposal to Elizabeth Bennet at Hunsford parsonage, which she refuses; the declaration everyone quotes opens the scene the proposal ruins.

There's always one who loves and one who lets himself be loved.

W. Somerset Maugham · Philip Carey to Norah, who has just said she always knew he loved her less than she loved him.

To get rid of an enemy, one must love him.

Leo Tolstoy · The source reads: “To get rid of an enemy, one must love him, as it is also said in the "Teaching of the twelve apostles."” · A diary entry of 14 September 1896 at Yasnaya Polyana, citing the early Christian Teaching of the Twelve Apostles.

The more you love a memory, the stronger and stranger it is.

Vladimir Nabokov · The source reads: “I think it's all a matter of love: the more you love a memory, the stronger and stranger it is.” · Answering a BBC interviewer at Zermatt in July 1962 who asked whether writing a memory down makes it fade.

“The very first moment I beheld him, my heart was irrevocably gone.”

“My affections and wishes are unchanged; but one word from you will silence me on this subject for ever.”

“I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.”

“In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.”

“There's always one who loves and one who lets himself be loved.”

“To get rid of an enemy, one must love him.”

“The more you love a memory, the stronger and stranger it is.”

We Value Your Opinion Comments