Pride and Prejudice Quotes
The 8 most famous lines from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (1813), each with its speaker and the scene it belongs to. These are the quotes readers underline, copy into essays and put on walls - gathered in one place, explained in a line.
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“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”
- Narrator. The famous opening line.
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“She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me.”
- Mr Darcy. Within Elizabeth's earshot at the Meryton assembly.
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“I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.”
- Elizabeth Bennet. To Charlotte, after the slight.
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“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.”
- Mr Darcy. The first proposal.
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“Till this moment I never knew myself.”
- Elizabeth Bennet. After reading Darcy's letter.
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“My good opinion once lost, is lost for ever.”
- Mr Darcy. On his unforgiving character.
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“For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn?”
- Mr Bennet. On his philosophy of amusement.
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“My affections and wishes are unchanged, but one word from you will silence me on this subject for ever.”
- Mr Darcy. The second proposal.
Why these lines survive
Jane Austen’s sentences earn their fame by compression: each line carries the whole book’s argument in a form you can carry in your pocket. Read in order, the 8 quotes above also sketch the novel’s shape - the world it opens, the pressure it applies, the note it ends on. If you meet them before the book, nothing is spoiled beyond mood; if you meet them after, each one lands like a place you have been.
Quote collectors: pair this page with the Pride and Prejudice quiz to see which lines actually stuck, the book club questions when you want to argue about them, or how long the reread takes - about 8 hours and 33 minutes at an average pace. If the lines did their job and you want more of the same nerve, the books like Pride and Prejudice list is next.
Want the whole shelf’s lines? Our Jane Austen books in order guide lists every book.
How to use a quotes page
Three honest uses. Before reading: skim the first two quotes to taste the prose - if the voice does not pull you, the book will not either. During: mark which quote you actually reach in the text, because the distance between famous line and lived scene is where a book keeps its secrets. After: pick the one quote you would defend at dinner and check it against the discussion questions - a quote you can argue about is a quote you understood. What a quotes page is not for is replacing the book; five lines of Jane Austen are an invitation, not a summary.
More quote collections
Jane Eyre quotes, Little Women quotes, The Catcher in the Rye quotes, Emma quotes - or browse quotes from all 133 classics. Then see which of them stuck on the original book quiz.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most famous quote from Pride and Prejudice?
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” - the line most readers meet first. The full list above gives the scene for every one of the 8.
How many Pride and Prejudice quotes are here?
8, chosen because they are the lines readers actually underline and repeat - each with who says it and where it lands in the book.
Are these quotes explained?
Yes - every quote carries its speaker and a one-line context, because a quote without its scene loses most of its charge.
Can I use these in an essay or post?
Short quoted lines with attribution are standard fair use in essays and posts. Quote accurately, name the author, and you are on solid ground.
Are these Pride and Prejudice quotes word-for-word accurate?
They are checked against the novel as written, not harvested from quote sites - which is why a few famous “lines” you may have seen elsewhere are missing here: many of those come from film adaptations or paraphrase the prose. What is listed above is the book.