“You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it”
Mr. Bennet Chapter 1
Pride and Prejudice quotes
Pride and Prejudice quotes that still know exactly what they are doing
Memorable lines from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, with the speaker, chapter, and a little context for why each sentence still lands.
Quick quote reference
Start here if you need the line, speaker, chapter, and plain reason it matters.
| Quote | Speaker | Chapter | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| It is a truth universally acknowledged... | Narrator | Chapter 1 | The opening sentence turns marriage, money, and social assumption into comedy at once. |
| I dearly love a laugh. | Elizabeth Bennet | Chapter 11 | Elizabeth names the wit that makes her charming and occasionally unfair. |
| Till this moment I never knew myself. | Elizabeth Bennet | Chapter 36 | The novel turns from clever judgment toward self-knowledge. |
| You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you. | Mr. Darcy | Chapter 34 | Darcy says the romantic thing in the least successful manner imaginable. |
| My affections and wishes are unchanged. | Mr. Darcy | Chapter 58 | The second proposal works because Darcy finally leaves Elizabeth free to answer. |
| For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn? | Mr. Bennet | Chapter 57 | A funny line that also shows the moral limits of Mr. Bennet's detachment. |
Important Pride and Prejudice quotes
The most important Pride and Prejudice quotes usually do one of three jobs: expose a social rule, reveal a character flaw, or mark a moment of self-correction.
For readers, the key quotes are not only the romantic ones. The novel also turns on money, family failure, reputation, irony, and the pain of being misread.
- Opening sentence: marriage and money enter before any character does.
- Darcy's first insult: Elizabeth has a reason to dislike him before she has evidence against him.
- Elizabeth's refusal: Darcy is forced to hear how ungentlemanly his pride has seemed.
- Darcy's letter: the plot changes because private explanation finally appears.
- Elizabeth's self-recognition: the moral center of the book is not a wedding but a correction.
Pride and Prejudice phrases people remember
Searches for Pride and Prejudice phrases often point to short fragments readers half-remember: "universally acknowledged," "tolerable," "ardently admire and love," and "my courage always rises."
Those phrases work because Austen gives them social pressure. They are not greeting-card lines; they belong to arguments, embarrassments, proposals, and reversals.
Pride and Prejudice quotes with page numbers
Page numbers vary by edition, so chapter references are more reliable. A paperback, ebook, classroom anthology, and annotated edition can place the same sentence on different pages.
If you need a citation, use the chapter listed here and then find the page number in your specific edition.
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The ones with social teeth
Austen's best lines rarely just decorate the page. They flirt, deflect, scold, expose, or quietly rearrange the room.
“Charles writes in the most careless way imaginable. He leaves out half his words, and blots the rest”
Caroline Bingley Chapter 10
“I expected at least that the pigs were got into the garden, and here is nothing but Lady Catherine and her daughter!”
Elizabeth Bennet Chapter 28
“You have a very small park here”
Lady Catherine de Bourgh Chapter 56
Lines that reveal the speaker
Austen's speakers are rarely interchangeable. Even a small line can arrive with posture, rank, vanity, injury, or affection already inside it.
“I never heard anything so abominable. How shall we punish him for such a speech?”
Caroline Bingley Chapter 11
“Pardon me for interrupting you, madam”
Mr. Collins Chapter 20
“I should have judged better had I sought an introduction, but I am ill-qualified to recommend myself to strangers.”
Mr. Darcy Chapter 31
“and pray tell her from me, that she cannot expect to excel, if she does not practise a great deal.”
Lady Catherine de Bourgh Chapter 31
When the story changes temperature
Some lines matter because the room suddenly feels different: warmer, crueler, more dangerous, or too honest to keep pretending.
“but that was only when I first knew her; for it is many months since I have considered her as one of the handsomest women of my acquaintance”
Mr. Darcy Chapter 45
“Mr. Darcy is uncommonly kind to Mr. Bingley, and takes a prodigious deal of care of him.”
Elizabeth Bennet Chapter 33
“grieved--shocked. But is it certain, absolutely certain?”
Mr. Darcy Chapter 46
“I am sorry, exceedingly sorry”
Mr. Darcy Chapter 58
More quote pages
Follow one voice closely, or stay inside Longbourn and listen to the whole Bennet family at once.
Elizabeth Bennet quotes
Wit, stubbornness, self-correction, and the moments when Lizzy sees more than she meant to.
Mary Bennet quotes
Moral philosophy, wounded pride, and the lines that make Mary more than the family joke.
Mr. Darcy quotes
The insult, the proposal, the apology, and every sentence where Darcy nearly explains himself.
Bennet family quotes
Longbourn in miniature: nerves, irony, kindness, vanity, and five sisters trying to be heard.
Questions people ask
Where do these Pride and Prejudice quotes come from?
These lines come from Jane Austen's public-domain novel Pride and Prejudice, with speakers and chapters included for context.
Are Pride and Prejudice quotes public domain?
Yes. Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice was published in 1813 and is in the public domain.
Why include the speaker and chapter?
The speaker and chapter make each quote easier to place in the story, especially when a line depends on who says it and what social pressure surrounds it.