--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is a truth universally acknowledged…" description: "\"“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single girl in possession of her right mind must be in want of a decent man.”\" — Alexandra Potter" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8d/alexandra-potter-9904_austen_it-is-a-truth-universally-acknowledged-t_390093.png" --- # It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single girl… ![“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single girl in possession of her right mind must be in want of a decent man.” quote by Alexandra Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8d/alexandra-potter-9904_austen_it-is-a-truth-universally-acknowledged-t_390093.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8d/alexandra-potter-9904_austen_it-is-a-truth-universally-acknowledged-t_390093.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8d/alexandra-potter-9904_austen_it-is-a-truth-universally-acknowledged-t_390093.png) > ““It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single girl in possession of her right mind must be in want of a decent man.”” [Alexandra Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-potter/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A satirical twist on the classic line, suggesting that a rational woman is expected to seek a suitable partner. **In simple terms:** A smart woman is presumed to want a good man. Key Takeaway Question societal expectations. Themes gender roles satire expectations Mood wry thoughtful Type literary social critique When to use this quote - dating apps - career advancement - friendship choices Key Concepts marriage market women's autonomy social commentary Questions to Reflect On - Do you agree with the premise? - How do expectations shape partner choice? A Different Perspective Modern context may differ from original satire. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dating/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Single girl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/single-girl/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [“It's a truth universally acknowledged...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/it-s-a-truth-universally-acknowledged/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife,' I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-cooper/it-is-a-truth-universally-acknowledged-that-a-single-man-in-2/) [Michelle Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-cooper/) > [It is a truth universally acknowledged that as soon as one part of your life starts looking up, another falls to pieces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-fielding/it-is-a-truth-universally-acknowledged-that-as-soon-as-one-part-of/) [Helen Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-fielding/) > [It is a truth universally acknowledged that M. Dirda is a sucker for anything bookish in the way of artwork.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/it-is-a-truth-universally-acknowledged-that-m-dirda-is-a-sucker-for/) [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) > [“It is a truth universally acknowledged, he’d mused, that most people will never find their ‘call me Ishmael’.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/django-wylie/it-is-a-truth-universally-acknowledged-he-d-mused-that-most-people/) Django Wylie > [It is a truth universally acknowledged that secrets are toxic and break up families.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-ridley/it-is-a-truth-universally-acknowledged-that-secrets-are-toxic-and/) [Jane Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-ridley/) > [“It is truth universally acknowledged that a man in possession of a large fortune is in want of a wife!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/it-is-truth-universally-acknowledged-that-a-man-in-possession-of-a/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“It is a truth universally acknowledged that when one part of your life starts going okay, another falls spectacularly to pieces.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-fielding/it-is-a-truth-universally-acknowledged-that-when-one-part-of-your/) [Helen Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-fielding/) > [It is a truth universally acknowledged that one only comes up with clever, cutting remarks long after the other party is happily slumbering away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-willig/it-is-a-truth-universally-acknowledged-that-one-only-comes-up-with/) [Lauren Willig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-willig/) > [“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a large ego must be in want of a woman to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-nathan/it-is-a-truth-universally-acknowledged-that-a-single-man-in-7/) [Melissa Nathan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-nathan/) > [“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single girl in possesion of a pashon for fashon, must be in want of an audiance!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-vogel-frederick/it-is-a-truth-universally-acknowledged-that-a-single-girl-in-2/) [Heather Vogel Frederick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-vogel-frederick/) > [It is a truth universally acknowledged, in the enlightened liberal semi-socialist California circles in which I often move, that Uber is evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-evans/it-is-a-truth-universally-acknowledged-in-the-enlightened-liberal/) [Jon Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-evans/) > [It is a truth universally unacknowledged at Westminster that there is life after politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-widdecombe/it-is-a-truth-universally-unacknowledged-at-westminster-that-there-is/) [Ann Widdecombe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-widdecombe/) > [It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/it-is-a-truth-universally-acknowledged-that-a-single-man-in-6/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [The magnitude of this evil among us is so deeply felt, and so universally acknowledged, that no merit could be greater than that of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/the-magnitude-of-this-evil-among-us-is-so-deeply-felt-and-so/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) ## More by Alexandra Potter > [“It was the feeling she'd had when Sam had first kissed her in the pub. When he'd first put his lips against her. She…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-potter/it-was-the-feeling-she-d-had-when-sam-had-first-kissed-her-in-the-pub/) [Alexandra Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-potter/) > [You can't make yourself fall in love, just as you can't choose who you fall in love with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-potter/you-can-t-make-yourself-fall-in-love-just-as-you-can-t-choose-who-you/) [Alexandra Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-potter/) > [Life can change in the blink of an eye. All you have is right now. So don’t ever put off telling someone how you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-potter/life-can-change-in-the-blink-of-an-eye-all-you-have-is-right-now-so/) [Alexandra Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-potter/) > [“Everyone dreams of finding their soulmate. It's a universal quest. All over the world millions of people are looking for their true love, their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-potter/everyone-dreams-of-finding-their-soulmate-it-s-a-universal-quest-all/) [Alexandra Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-potter/) > [My chest tightens: seeing him so upset breaks my own heart. 'Don't you ever wish you could make that bit go away?" I say,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-potter/my-chest-tightens-seeing-him-so-upset-breaks-my-own-heart-don-t-you/) [Alexandra Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-potter/) > ["Maybe I just don't want another rejection," he shrugs. "I've had enough of that in my so-called acting career." Oh, so this is what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-potter/maybe-i-just-don-t-want-another-rejection-he-shrugs-i-ve-had-enough/) [Alexandra Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-potter/) > [consider the implications. We think we know what we want, but we can never really know until we've got it. And sometimes when we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-potter/consider-the-implications-we-think-we-know-what-we-want-but-we-can/) [Alexandra Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-potter/) > [And so taking the long way home through the market I slow my pace down. It doesn't come naturally. My legs are programmed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-potter/and-so-taking-the-long-way-home-through-the-market-i-slow-my-pace/) [Alexandra Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-potter/) > [If you want a man who's commited, go look in a mental hospital.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-potter/if-you-want-a-man-who-s-commited-go-look-in-a-mental-hospital/) [Alexandra Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-potter/) > [“Scooping up the dress, I slip it over my head, and as it cascades to the floor. I suck my stomach for all I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-potter/scooping-up-the-dress-i-slip-it-over-my-head-and-as-it-cascades-to/) [Alexandra Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-potter/) > [Their eyes met. It had begun. They had begun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-potter/their-eyes-met-it-had-begun-they-had-begun/) [Alexandra Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-potter/) > [“I pity you Juliet. You don't know what love is. You think it's Valentine's Day, and weekends in Italy. You think it's drinking champagne…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-potter/i-pity-you-juliet-you-don-t-know-what-love-is-you-think-it-s/) [Alexandra Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-potter/) > [“i thought love was about caring about someone day in and day out, about being there when it's fucking amazing, and still wanting to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-potter/i-thought-love-was-about-caring-about-someone-day-in-and-day-out/) [alexandra potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-potter/) > [Time has a funny way of airbrushing relationships, removing all the things that were wrong so when you look back it looks much better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-potter/time-has-a-funny-way-of-airbrushing-relationships-removing-all-the/) [Alexandra Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-potter/) > [Missing someone has to be one of the worst human emotions. All the other feelings like anger and fear and horror get some much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-potter/missing-someone-has-to-be-one-of-the-worst-human-emotions-all-the/) [Alexandra Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-potter/) [Explore all 67 Alexandra Potter quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-potter/) ## More Austen quotes > [The difficulty with poetry is that it doesn't have the life that Shakespeare or Jane Austen have beyond the page. You can't make a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/the-difficulty-with-poetry-is-that-it-doesn-t-have-the-life-that/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [Look at Jane Austen. Her characters derive in a reasonably straight line from fairy tales.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-davies/look-at-jane-austen-her-characters-derive-in-a-reasonably-straight/) [Andrew Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-davies/) > [“The celestial brightness of Pride and Prejudice is unequalled even in Jane Austen's other work; after a life of much disappointment and grief, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-jenkins/the-celestial-brightness-of-pride-and-prejudice-is-unequalled-even-in/) [Elizabeth Jenkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-jenkins/) > [It has been suggested that Tiptree is female, a theory that I find absurd, for there is to me something ineluctably masculine about Tiptree’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/it-has-been-suggested-that-tiptree-is-female-a-theory-that-i-find/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [Had Elizabeth Bennet known how wildly Darcy's heart beat for her, 'Pride and Prejudice' would barely have made it into a short story. Their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariella-frostrup/had-elizabeth-bennet-known-how-wildly-darcy-s-heart-beat-for-her/) [Mariella Frostrup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariella-frostrup/) > [ “\[Jane\] Austen was not a novelist for nothing: she knew that our stories are what make us human, and that listening to someone else's… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-deresiewicz/jane-austen-was-not-a-novelist-for-nothing-she-knew-that-our-stories/) [William Deresiewicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-deresiewicz/) > [I'm kind of a mash-up of taste - Graham Greene and Jane Austen; W.G. Sebald and Alice Munro.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-waldman/i-m-kind-of-a-mash-up-of-taste-graham-greene-and-jane-austen-w-g/) [Amy Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-waldman/) > [I'm sure I've been influenced by every fine writer I've ever read, from Dickens and Austen to Auden and Jane Hirshfield. 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You have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/great-books-are-readable-anyway-dickens-is-readable-jane-austen-is/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“Gratitude, not merely for having once loved her, but for loving her still well enough, to forgive all the petulance and acrimony of her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/gratitude-not-merely-for-having-once-loved-her-but-for-loving-her/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [I grew up on Jane Austen novels and was a massive literature fanatic when I was a kid - I read everything I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-king/i-grew-up-on-jane-austen-novels-and-was-a-massive-literature-fanatic/) [Georgia King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-king/) > [“I don't care a whit for Society. I think people should only marry someone who can offer them some bit of affection. I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harper-st-george/i-don-t-care-a-whit-for-society-i-think-people-should-only-marry/) Harper St. George > [“Does everybody know everything in this town!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaishnavi-nair-k/does-everybody-know-everything-in-this-town/) [Vaishnavi Nair K](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaishnavi-nair-k/) > [“People don't say what they mean very often. You have to read between the lines of their behavior, of what they say, to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-frank/people-don-t-say-what-they-mean-very-often-you-have-to-read-between/) [M.C. Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-frank/) Browse all 292 Austen quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single girl in possession of her right mind must be in want of a decent man.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alexandra Potter" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-potter/it-is-a-truth-universally-acknowledged-that-a-single-girl-in/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Austen" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-potter/it-is-a-truth-universally-acknowledged-that-a-single-girl-in/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8d/alexandra-potter-9904_austen_it-is-a-truth-universally-acknowledged-t_390093.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8d/alexandra-potter-9904_austen_it-is-a-truth-universally-acknowledged-t_390093.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8d/alexandra-potter-9904_austen_it-is-a-truth-universally-acknowledged-t_390093.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single girl in possession of her right mind must be in want of…” — Alexandra Potter", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alexandra Potter", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-potter/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“It is a truth universally acknowledged...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-potter/it-is-a-truth-universally-acknowledged-that-a-single-girl-in/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-potter/it-is-a-truth-universally-acknowledged-that-a-single-girl-in/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```