Jane Austen Quotes about England
As a literature meets UK train travel blog, it would be remiss of me not to include the quotes by Jane Austen about England!
London
"Ah! my poor dear child, the truth is, that in London it is always a sickly season. Nobody is healthy in London, nobody can be."
- Emma
"Our part of London is very superior to most others!... The neighbourhood of Brunswick Square is very different from almost all the rest. We are so very airy!"
- Emma
"I cannot see that London has any great advantage over the country, for my part, except the shops and public places. The country is a vast deal pleasanter, is not it, Mr. Bingley?"
- Pride & Prejudice
"We do not look in great cities for our best morality. It is not there that respectable people of any denomination can do most good..."
- Mansfield Park
Bath
Unlike Jane Austen, I am quite fond of Bath and have visited several times. Here's my guide to planning a train trip from London to Bath and the best restaurants to dine at in Bath.
"What a delightful place Bath is... and how pleasant it would be if we had any acquaintance here."
- Northanger Abbey
"Bath, compared with London, has little variety... 'For six weeks, I allow Bath is pleasant enough; but beyond that, it is the most tiresome place in the world.'"
- Northanger Abbey
"The worst of Bath was the number of its plain women... a dreadful multitude of ugly women in Bath; and as for the men! they were infinitely worse. Such scarecrows as the streets were full of!"
- Persuasion
Elsewhere in England
"There is not a finer county in England than Derbyshire."
- Pride & Prejudice
"In Lydia’s imagination, a visit to Brighton comprised every possibility of earthly happiness. She saw, with the creative eye of fancy, the streets of that gay bathing-place covered with officers."
- Pride & Prejudice
Note: Brighton is actually 1 of my favourite train trips from London Bridge- it's got a nice quirky, creative feel, with a ton of independent shops.
"There was neither health nor gaiety in sunshine in a town. She sat in a blaze of oppressive heat, in a cloud of moving dust..." (Speaking of Portsmouth)
- Mansfield Park
"I call it a very fine country—the hills are steep, the woods seem full of fine timber, and the valley looks comfortable and snug—with rich meadows and several neat farm houses scattered here and there." (Speaking of Devonshire)
- Sense & Sensibility
"...altogether my impressions of the place are very agreeable." (Speaking of Lyme)
- Persuasion
"Surry is the garden of England, you know. Surry is the garden of England."
- Emma
"You should have gone to Cromer, my dear, if you went anywhere... A fine open sea, he says, and very pure air."
- Emma
Is there any particular Jane Austen quote that you agree or disagree with? Let me know in the comments!
