"Never does one feel oneself so utterly helpless as in trying to speak comfort for great bereavement."
Jane Welsh Carlyle
Essayist, Writer
Jane Welsh Carlyle was a prominent Victorian writer known for her insightful letters and reflections on love, struggle, and her marriage to philosopher Thomas Carlyle.
- Born
- January 14, 1801
- Died
- April 21, 1866
- Quotes
- 29
- Rank
- #2007
About Jane Welsh Carlyle
Jane Welsh Carlyle — Life and Legacy
Jane Welsh Carlyle, a notable figure in the Victorian literary scene, is best recognized for her poignant letters that delve into the intricacies of love and personal struggle. Married to the influential philosopher Thomas Carlyle, Jane's writings provide a unique glimpse into her emotional landscape and the challenges she faced in her marriage. Her quote, 'the heart of a woman is a deep sea,' encapsulates her belief in the profound depths of female experience, suggesting that women's emotions are often complex and multifaceted. Carlyle's worldview was shaped by her own struggles, and she often expressed a candid perspective on societal expectations. Her remark, 'I have no patience with the world,' reflects her discontent with the superficiality of social norms, emphasizing her desire for authenticity in relationships. Through her letters, she articulated the dual nature of love—its capacity to bring both joy and heartache—demonstrating her keen psychological insight. Today, Jane Welsh Carlyle's quotes resonate with readers who appreciate the emotional depth and honesty she brought to her writing. Her reflections on love and struggle continue to inspire those navigating the complexities of human relationships, making her work relevant in contemporary discussions about emotional authenticity and personal growth.
Quote collection
Jane Welsh Carlyle quotes (page 1 of 2)
29 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"The only thing that makes one place more attractive to me than another is the quantity of heart I find in it."
"Blessed be the inventor of photography! I set him above even the inventor of chloroform! It has given more positive pleasure to poor suffering humanity than anything else that has ''cast up'' in my time or is like to -- this art by which even the ''poor'' can possess themselves of tolerable likenesses of their absent dear ones. And mustn't it be acting favorably on the morality of the country?"
"Instead of boiling up individuals into the species, I would draw a chalk circle round every individuality, and preach to it to keep within that, and preserve and cultivate its identity."
"On earth the living have much to bear; the difference is chiefly in the manner of bearing, and my manner of bearing is far from being the best."
"In spite of the honestest efforts to annihilate my I-ity, or merge it in what the world doubtless considers my better half, I still find myself a self-subsisting and alas! self-seeking me."
"Time is the only comforter for the loss of a mother."
"Young children are such nasty little beasts!"
"People who are so dreadfully "devoted" to their wives are so apt, from mere habit, to get devoted to other people's wives as well."
"If they had said that the sun or the moon had gone out of the heavens, it could not have struck me with the idea of a more awful and dreary blank in creation than the words: Byron is dead!"
"The glittering baits of titles and honours are only for children and fools."
"I am not at all the sort of person you and I took me for."
"the less one does, as I long ago observed, the less one can find time to do."
"When one has been threatened with a great injustice, one accepts a smaller as a favour."
"The triumphal-procession-air which, in our manners and customs, is given to marriage at the outset - that singing of Te Deum before the battle has begun."
"The surest way to get a thing in this life is to be prepared for doing without it, to the exclusion even of hope."
"cracked things often hold out as long as whole things; one takes so much better care of them!"
"The longer I live, the more I am certified that men, in all that relates to their own health, have not common sense! whether it be their pride, or their impatience, or their obstinancy, or their ingrained spirit of contradiction, that stupefies and misleads them, the result is always a certain amount of idiocy, or distraction in their dealings with their own bodies! ... either by their wild impatience of bodily suffering, and the exaggerated moan they make over it, or else by their reckless defiance of it, and neglect of every dictate of prudence!"
"How many precious things do we not already possess which others have not - have hardly an idea of! Let us enjoy these, then, and bless God that we are permitted to enjoy them, rather than importune His goodness with vain longings for more."
"all griefs, when there is no bitterness in them, are soothed down by time."