β I shouldn't mind living in such a fine house and having nice thingsβ¦ Oh, it doesn't seen like Christmas this year without presents.
β I'm desperate for drawing pencils...
β I wish I didn't have to work for Great-Aunt March... That crabby old miser.
β And you, Beth... What's your Christmas wish?
β I'd like the war to end so father can come home...
β Oh, sweet Beth. We all want that.
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Actress:
β I fear you would have a long engagement, three or four yearsβ¦ John must secure a house before you can marry and do his service to the Union.
β John? Marry?... You mean that pokey old Mr. Brooke?... How did he weasel his way into this family?
β Jo! John has been very kind to visit father in the hospital every dayβ¦
β He's dull as powder. Meg, can't you at least marry someone amusing?
β I'm fond of Mr. Brooke. He's a good man. He's kind and serious... And I'm not afraid of being poor.
β Marmee, you can't just let her go and marry him!
β I'd hardly just go and marry anyone.
β I would rather Meg marry for love and be a poor man's wife than marry for riches and lose her self-respect.
β What do we think of the boy?... Is he a captive like Smee in Nicholas Nickleby?... He looks lonely.
β You don't think he'll try to call?
β Maybe. He has a secret! A tragic, European secret.
β He's had no upbringing at all, they say. He was reared in Italy among artists and vagrants.
β Doesn't he have a noble brow? If I were a boy, I'd want to look just like that. Imagine, giving up Italy to come live with that awful old man!
β Jo, please don't say "awful". It's slang.
β I'd be terrified to live with him.
β Who cares what people think?..
β I do. It's nice to be praised and admired...
β I couldn't help but like it. I only care what you think of yourself. If you feel your value lies in being merely decorative, I fear that someday you might find yourself believing thatβs all that you really are. Time erodes all such beauty, but what it cannot diminish is the wonderful workings of your mind: Your humor, your kindness, and your moral courage. These are the things I cherish so in you. I so wish I could give my girls a more just world. But I know youβll make it a better place.