The words of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women have been inspiring readers for decades, and Greta Gerwig’s adaptation is continuing the tradition.
You can’t experience Little Women through page, stage, or screen without feeling inspired. The story of Jo and the March family is sacred for any feminist or dreamer. It’s packed with heart, friendship, romance, and ambition.
Related: Greta Gerwig’s Little Women transformed Amy into my favorite character
The story has stood the test of time because of the timeless themes at its core and the words that bring it to life. Greta Gerwig’s adaptation uses both classic and contemporary language to bring Little Women to a new generation.
Here are some of our favorite quotes from Greta Gerwig’s Little Women.
‘Little Women’ quotes
‘I can’t get over my disappointment in being a girl.’ – Jo March
‘I can’t afford to starve on praise.’ – Jo March
‘No one will forget Jo March.’ – Jo March
‘I have lots of wishes, but my favorite one is to be an artist and go to Paris and do fine pictures and be the best painter in the world.’ – Amy March
‘Why be ashamed of what you want?’ – Amy March
‘I like good, strong words that mean something.’ – Jo March
‘Well. I’m not a poet, I’m just a woman. And as a woman I have no way to make money, not enough to earn a living and support my family. Even if I had my own money, which I don’t, it would belong to my husband the minute we were married. If we had children they would belong to him, not me. They would be his property. So don’t sit there and tell me that marriage isn’t an economic proposition, because it is. It may not be for you but it most certainly is for me.’ – Amy March
‘Don’t go quietly, fight! Please fight to the end, be LOUD! Don’t just quietly go away!’ – Jo March
‘If I’m going to sell my heroine into marriage for money, I might as well get some of it.’ – Jo March
‘I may not always be right, but I am never wrong.’ – Aunt March
‘You will be bored of him in two years and we will be interesting forever.’ – Jo March
‘I have been second to Jo my whole life in everything and I will not be the person you settle for just because you cannot have her. I won’t do it, not when, not when I’ve spent my entire life loving you.’ – Amy March
‘Just because my dreams are not the same as yours doesn’t mean they’re unimportant.’ – Meg March
‘What excessive promises, giving yourself away to get the other. What a thing, what a gift, always
given before it is known the cost or the reward.’ – Mr. March
‘I don’t believe I will ever marry. I’m happy as I am, and love my liberty too well to be in any hurry to give it up.’ Jo March
‘If I were a girl in a book, this would all be so easy, I’d give up the world happily.’ – Jo March
