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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.

Jane Austen

Source
Pride and Prejudice, ch. 1 (vol. 1, ch. 1)
Written
1813

About this quotation

This is the first sentence of Pride and Prejudice, and it is ironic: the chapter shows that it is Mrs Bennet and her neighbourhood who want a rich husband for their daughters. Austen drafted an early version of the novel in 1796–97 under the title First Impressions.

More from this author

All the privilege I claim for my own sex (it is not a very enviable one; you need not covet it), is that of loving longest, when existence or when hope is gone.
Jane AustenPersuasion, ch. 23 (vol. 2, ch. 11)
You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope.
Jane AustenPersuasion, ch. 23 (vol. 2, ch. 11)
You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.
Jane AustenPride and Prejudice, ch. 34 (vol. 2, ch. 11)

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