Home > Author > Janice Hadlow
1 " Watching what happens isn’t the same as being part of it. "
― Janice Hadlow , The Other Bennet Sister
2 " And anyway, in our house, no-one is obliged to sparkle. Which, I find, makes it far more likely that they might. "
3 " Our happiness depends on ourselves "
4 " Sometimes the very best stuff can seem quite plain, until one examines it closely. It is only then that one sees its true quality. "
5 " ...in truth, there is no state that better demonstrates real firmness of affection than the ability to remain quietly comfortable together without conversation. "
6 " There are times when happiness must be fought for, if we are to have any chance at all of achieving it. "
7 " It is better to accept what I can do than to yearn hopelessly after what I cannot. “Know thyself”, as the Greeks tell us. "
8 " But it is often difficult for us to recognise what virtue looks like because we so readily confuse it with pleasure. Pleasure can deliver is enjoyment - the feelings we derive from good food, good conversations, the contemplation of beauty - but these things do not last. Enjoyments are transient, but true happiness endures. That is its distinguishing quality. "
9 " That is the power of poetry,” he said simply. “It allows us to imagine ourselves anew, if we will permit it to do so. It reveals to us the hidden wishes of our hearts. "
10 " It’s hard to persuade anyone, especially a man, that your regard is worth having if you have none for yourself. "
11 " It is my situation I dislike, not myself. "
12 " Mary looked shyly at her reflection. She would not go as far as handsome, but she thought she would not stand out as awkward or strange; and that was enough for her. "
13 " I see plainly enough that you don’t like to make a fuss about dress—that you dislike having attention drawn to you. But there are times when the best way to ensure you are not remarkable is to conform to the expectations of those around you. "
14 " They did not consider happiness a matter of chance or destiny. Instead they did everything in their power to cultivate it, prizing generosity over petulance, preferring kindness to umbrage, and and always encouraging laughter rather than complaint. "
15 " It might seem an unromantic circumstance; but in truth, there is no state that better demonstrates real firmness of affection than the ability to remain quietly comfortable together without conversation. "
16 " for where there is no willingness to make an effort, there is usually little likelihood of success. "
17 " Then It occurred to me that I was coming at it in quite the wrong way. I was trying to think it into submission. I began to fear I might be about to destroy the very thing I wanted to understand. It struck me that a poem was perhaps too fragile an object to bear the weight of too much rational examination "
18 " Her chief purpose in life appeared to be the avoidance of notice. Her heart contracted with pain; it was almost too much to bear. "
19 " If she wished to act rightly, she must conquer her passions. Her heart had failed her, and now her intellect must take its place. Her reason, and not her feelings, must in future be relied upon to tell her what to do. She must think more and feel less. That way she should do no more damage, either to herself or others. "
20 " In a world with fewer diversions, the arrival of a letter was an event to be shared and celebrated or enjoyed as a private pleasure. In most households, there simply could not be too many of them. Even by these formidable "
― Janice Hadlow , A Royal Experiment: The Private Life of King George III
