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Caroline Bingley: ...and her sisters Jane and Elizabeth were seen running down Market Street in an attempt to escape their disgrace. Isn't that exquisitely funny, Mr. Darcy?
Mr. Darcy: Exquisitely. Just think how you would roar with laughter if it happened to yourself.
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Mr. Darcy: You must allow me to tell you how much I admire and love you.
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Mr. Bennet: An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins. And I will never see you again if you do.
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Mr. Bennet: Well, we're hoping Elizabeth can manage to catch a cold of her own and stay long enough to get engaged to Mr. Darcy. Then, if a good snowstorm could be arranged, we'd send Kitty over. But if a young man should happen to be in the house - a young man who likes singing, of course, who can discuss philosophy - Mary could go. Then, if a dashing young soldier in a handsome uniform should appear for Lydia, everything would be perfect, my dear.
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Lydia Bennet: Has anybody heard how Jane is this morning?
Mrs. Bennet: Eh, Mr. Bingley sent a note over by his groom. She's much better. Such a happy idea of mine sending her off in the rain.
Mr. Bennet: Yes, but to Jane must go all the credit for having caught the cold, my dear.
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Mrs. Bennet: Look at them! Five of them without dowries. What's to become of them?
Mr. Bennet: Yes, what's to become of the wretched creatures? Perhaps we should have drowned some of them at birth.
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Mr. Darcy: I have made the mistake of being honest with you.
Elizabeth Bennet: Honesty is a greatly overrated virtue. Silence in this case would have been more agreeable.
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Caroline Bingley: [observing the Bennet family at the party at Netherfield] Entertaining the rustics is not as difficult as I feared. Any simple, childish game seems to amuse them excessively.
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Mr. Darcy: Yes, she looks tolerable enough, but I am in no humor tonight to give consequence to the middle classes at play.
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Elizabeth Bennet: Oh Mr. Darcy, Miss Bingley here is eager for her lesson. I hope you will enjoy it, Miss Bingley, and that you will learn to direct your darts with greater accuracy.
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Elizabeth Bennet: Oh, if you want to be really refined, you have to be dead. There's no one as dignified as a mummy
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Elizabeth Bennet: How clever of you, Miss Bingley, to know something of which you are ignorant.
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Elizabeth Bennet: I tremble and obey.
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Elizabeth Bennet: You know him so little.
Charlotte Lucas: Well, ignorance is bliss, Lizzie. If one is to spend one's life with a person, it's best to know as little as possible of his defects. After all, one would find them out soon enough.
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Mary Bennet: Did you tell him you had five daughters, Papa?
Mr. Bennet: Well, I told him if he ran into five of the silliest girls in England, they would be my daughters!
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Mr. Darcy: I rather admired what you did this afternoon Miss Elizabeth. Your resentment of what you believe to be an injustice showed courage and loyalty. I could wish i might possess a friend who would defend me as ably as Mr. Wickham was defended today.
Elizabeth Bennet: At this moment it's difficult to believe that you're so proud.
Mr. Darcy: At this moment it's difficult to believe that you're so prejudiced.
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Mrs. Bennet: Mary, try to sparkle a little.
[Mary grins horribly]
Mrs. Bennet: Just a little!
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Lady Catherine de Bourgh: You must learn, Mrs. Collins, to draw a firm line between the deserving poor and the undeserving.
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Mrs. Philips: Let me tell you all about Mr. Bingley. He's very rich! He has 5,000 pounds a year. 5,000 pounds and unmarried. That's the most heartening piece of news since the battle of Waterloo.
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Lady Lucas: He's one of the Darcy's of Pemberley.
Mrs. Bennet: Oh, Mr. Darcy of Pemberley. Is that all you know about him?
Lady Lucas: Oh, you mean is he married? No, dear, no. He isn't married.
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Mary Bennet: Look, Mama! I have just purchased Burke's essay on the sublime and beautiful!
Mrs. Bennet: You and your books! No wonder you're compelled to wear disfiguring glasses!
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Mrs. Bennet: Now, come along, girls! Don't dawdle!
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Mrs. Bennet: My dear, you flatter me. When a woman has five grown-up daughters, she ought to give over thinking of her own beauty.
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Mr. Wickham: Shall I offer a remark on the weather?
Elizabeth Bennet: If you can make it fit for a young lady's ears.
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Mr. Wickham: You are right. The weather is too dangerous a subject. To be quite safe, I shall ask you how you like it here in Meryton.
Elizabeth Bennet: Ahh! That's anything but safe!
Mr. Wickham: I'm just discovering that I like it prodigiously!
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Mrs. Bennet: Ah, Kitty, Kitty! Your dress is too décolleté. Pull it up a little.
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Mrs. Bennet: Ah, Lydia! Lydia, there's perspiration on your nose. Don't look so hot. It's very unladylike.
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Caroline Bingley: A waltz, Mr. Darcy.
Mr. Darcy: Yes.
Caroline Bingley: How modern.
Mr. Darcy: Yes, indeed.
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Jane Bennet: I like Mr. Bingley better. Mr. Darcy is so...
Elizabeth Bennet: So supercilious. My goodness! He does have an air about him.
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Mrs. Bennet: Mr. Bingley, we're all so delighted that you've taken Netherfield. Having it standing empty was a lost to the whole neighborhood. Like an oyster shell without an oyster in it.
Mr. Bingley: Well, here is the oyster, Madame. But, if I may be permitted to say so, it is you who have the pearl!
[looks at Jane]
Mrs. Bennet: Charming! Charming! Oh, ah, Jane dear, why don't you say something to Mr. Bingley?
Jane Bennet: Good evening, sir.
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Mrs. King: Mind your manners! Stop scratching yourself!
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Mr. Wickham: Is Miss Bingley engaged to Mr. Darcy?
Elizabeth Bennet: If she is, she ought to break it.
Mr. Wickham: Why?
Elizabeth Bennet: No man can be in love and look so bored!
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Caroline Bingley: Did you ever see such people, Mr. Darcy? Really! I think my brother ought to apologize for bringing us to a place like this! He is so dreadful and undiscriminating. He seems to be able to enjoy himself in any society.
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Mrs. Philips: My goodness! What a hullabaloo!
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Caroline Bingley: You must come over to Netherfield one day. I should be so bored.
Jane Bennet: What?
Caroline Bingley: Oh, you know! We're new out here in the wilderness.
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Elizabeth Bennet: Oh, why is England cursed with so many more women than men?
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Mr. Bingley: The place is full of pretty girls!
Mr. Darcy: I have noticed only one and you seemed to have monopolized her.
Mr. Bingley: Yes, isn't she lovely? But, there's that sister of hers, Miss Elizabeth. They say she has quite a lively wit.
Mr. Darcy: Ugh! A provincial young lady with a lively wit. Heaven preserve us!
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Charlotte Lucas: Oh! Praise heavens! I have this dance engaged with Col. Stubbs. He's never learned the steps but he likes the exercise. And, it gets me away from the wall.
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Sir William Lucas: Dancing is a charming amusement for young people. In my opinion, it's one of the first refinements of a polite society.
Mr. Darcy: It has the added advantage, sir, of being one of the first refinements of savages. Every Huttentot can dance.
Sir William Lucas: Oh, yes. Yes. Quite so.
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Elizabeth Bennet: The man must be mad.
Mr. Wickham: Mad? You're too charitable, Miss Elizabeth.
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Mr. Wickham: Ahh! Polka mazurka! I didn't expect to find Meryton abreast with the new fashion!
Elizabeth Bennet: You underrate us, Mr. Wickham. Meryton is abreast with everything. Everything except insolence and bad manners. Those London fashions we do not admire.
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Mrs. Bennet: Now, Jane, don't forget what I told you. Don't be too distant with him, and, be sure to laugh when he makes a joke.
Mr. Bennet: Yes, even if it's a bad one.
Elizabeth Bennet: Especially if it's a bad one.
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Mrs. Bennet: Dear, try to sit where he can see you in profile. You know, dear, although I say I shouldn't, you have the loveliest profile in all Hampshire.
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Mrs. Bennet: Oh! And, Jane, if Mr. Bingley should suggest a stroll before dinner, don't refuse. For instance, they just delightfully secluded walks in those shrubberies around that field.
Jane Bennet: Yes, Mama.
Elizabeth Bennet: [looking up at the storm clouds approaching] There won't be much strolling today, Mama.
Mrs. Bennet: Oh, dear me! I'm afraid you're right! Oh! And I had such hopes for those shrubberies!
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Caroline Bingley: Oh, you didn't come alone, I hope.
Elizabeth Bennet: All alone.
Caroline Bingley: But how shocking!
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Elizabeth Bennet: I'm not a great reader and I have pleasure in many frivolous things.
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Caroline Bingley: No one can really be esteemed accomplished, unless, you have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, dancing, and, the modern languages. Besides, she must also possess a certain something in the tone of her voice, in her address, in her expressions, as well as, in her figure and carriage.
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Caroline Bingley: I must know. Pray explain what the two motives might be, Mr. Darcy.
Mr. Darcy: I've not the smallest objection to explaining.
[explaining Caroline's motives on why she asked Mr. Darcy to walk with her and Elizabeth]
Mr. Darcy: Either you have secret affairs to discuss, or, you are conscious that your figures show to the greatest advantage while walking. In the first case, I should be completely in your way. And, in the second, I can admire you much better from where I am.
Caroline Bingley: Perfectly abominable! What shall we do to punish him, Miss Eliza?
Elizabeth Bennet: As you know him so well, I shall leave his punishment to you.
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Elizabeth Bennet: Thank you, Mr. Darcy. You saved me from one of the most dangerous bores in the country.
Mr. Darcy: If the dragon returns, Saint George will know how to deal with him.
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Elizabeth Bennet: Are you a good shot with the bow and arrow, Mr. Darcy?
Mr. Darcy: Tolerable.
Elizabeth Bennet: Only - tolerable?
Mr. Darcy: Well, it's a fine old sport. And one in which even a young lady can become proficient.
Elizabeth Bennet: So I've heard.
Mr. Darcy: At a short range, of course. And, with a light bow.
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Mr. Darcy: Miss Elizabeth thinks I do not laugh enough.
Caroline Bingley: I should be sorry to see you laugh more than you do. To me, there's something so unrefined about excessive laughter.
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Mr. Darcy: A gentleman does not have to explain his action. He expects people to give him credit for being a man of honor and integrity.
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Caroline Bingley: What can you expect of one of his low descent?
Elizabeth Bennet: I will tell you exactly of what I expect. Kindness. Honor. Generosity. Truthfulness. And, I might add that I expect precisely the same from persons of high descent.
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Elizabeth Bennet: Such a gay dance, the reel!
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Lydia Bennet: Look at Kitty! She's a drunken door!
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Mr. Collins: I understand, my dear Miss Elizabeth, that it is the delicate and charming custom of young ladies to say no when they mean yes, even three or four refusals. I am, therefore, by no means discouraged.
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Mr. Collins: I must, therefore, attribute your refusal of me to your wish of increasing my love by suspense! Which is, I'm told, the usual practice of elegant females!
Elizabeth Bennet: Believe me, sir! I am not one of those elegant females who takes pleasure in tormenting a respectable man. I am a rational creature speaking the truth from her heart.
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Mr. Collins: Foolish? Headstrong? Dear me! Those failures will not make her a very desirable wife!
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Charlotte Lucas: Happiness, Lizzie? In marriage, happiness is just a matter of chance.
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Lady Catherine de Bourgh: Are the chicken seedlings satisfactory?
Mrs. Collins: They've fallen to half a little these last days.
Lady Catherine de Bourgh: Then, give them half full, Mrs. Collins. If that has no effect, then, it means they're incorrigible. It must be killed and boiled! Killed and boiled.
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Mr. Darcy: Miss Elizabeth, I have thought a great deal of what you said to me at Netherfield that day - thank you - about laughing more. I've tried to follow your advice.
Elizabeth Bennet: I hope it worked. Do you feel happier now?
Mr. Darcy: I've never felt more miserable in my life.
Elizabeth Bennet: It's doubtless the lack of exercise. You'll feel happier when the hunting season begins.
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Elizabeth Bennet: Lady Catherine, I think it would be very hard on younger sisters to be kept without society or amusement until the elder ones were married. It would hardly promote sisterly affection or even delicacy of mind.
Lady Catherine de Bourgh: Upon my word, Miss Bennet! You express your opinions very decidedly.
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Footman: Dinner is served, milady!
Lady Catherine de Bourgh: Come. I hate cold soup.
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Lady Catherine de Bourgh: Mr. Darcy's sister, Georgiana, is a very accomplished musician. And, I, too, should have been a great proficient, if I'd ever learned.
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Mr. Darcy: Oh, don't stop, Miss Elizabeth. That was charming!
Elizabeth Bennet: Isn't that the right time to stop when people still think you're charming? If I went on, you might change your mind.
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Mr. Darcy: This last week, since I left Netherfield, had been empty, meaningless days and nights. I thought that I could put you out of my mind. That inclination would give way to judgment. I've walked the streets of London reminding myself of the unsuitability of such a marriage. Ah, the obstacles between us. But, it won't do. I can struggle against you no longer.
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Mrs. Bennet: Beware of Officers, I kept on telling her! They're fickle and unprincipled! They never have a six pence!
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Mrs. Bennet: Oh, Lizzie! Oh! Oh! You don't know how I have suffered, Lizzie! Such - such spasms, such - palpitations, such - fragileness!
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Mrs. Bennet: Come, my lambs! Oh, think of it! A daughter married! And, only sixteen last June!
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Mrs. Collins: Lady Catherine! Lady Catherine! What an honor for this humble house!
Lady Catherine de Bourgh: No honor was intended, Mr. Collins.
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Lady Catherine de Bourgh: Insolent headstrong girl! I'm ashamed of you!
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Lady Catherine de Bourgh: Imagine it! My nephew, Darcy, scouring the courts and alleys of London looking for him! Huh! Setting him up with an income! Forcing him to marry that silly little - libertied jibbit!
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Elizabeth Bennet: Goodbye, Lady Catherine.
Lady Catherine de Bourgh: I take no leave of you, Miss Bennet. I send no compliments to your mother! You deserve no such attention! I am seriously displeased!
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Mr. Darcy: Whatever I did, I thought only of you.
Elizabeth Bennet: Oh, Mr. Darcy! When I think of how I've misjudged you!
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Elizabeth Bennet: What does it matter where we go? As long as we go together!
Jane Bennet: Yes, Mama. We'll make a little world of our own.
Mr. Bennet: Yes! A Bennet Utopia, my dear! A domestic paradise, where nobody shall ever talk more than is strictly necessary.
Pride and Prejudice Quotes
Extended Reading
