--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We cannot prove the contrary, to be…" description: "\"“We cannot prove the contrary, to be sure—but I wish you a better fate Miss Price, than to be the wife of a man whose amiableness depends upon his own ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d8/jane-austen-39_monday-morning_we-cannot-prove-the-contrary-to-be-sure_1939374.jpg" --- # We cannot prove the contrary, to be sure—but I wish you a… ![“We cannot prove the contrary, to be sure—but I wish you a better fate Miss Price, than to be the wife of a man whose amiableness depends upon his own sermons; for though he may preach himself into a good humour every Sunday, it will be bad enough to have him quarrelling about green geese from…” quote by Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d8/jane-austen-39_monday-morning_we-cannot-prove-the-contrary-to-be-sure_1939374.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d8/jane-austen-39_monday-morning_we-cannot-prove-the-contrary-to-be-sure_1939374.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d8/jane-austen-39_monday-morning_we-cannot-prove-the-contrary-to-be-sure_1939374.jpg) > ““We cannot prove the contrary, to be sure—but I wish you a better fate Miss Price, than to be the wife of a man whose amiableness depends upon his own sermons; for though he may preach himself into a good humour every Sunday, it will be bad enough to have him quarrelling about green geese from Monday morning till Saturday night.”” [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker warns that marrying a man whose kindness depends on his sermons leads to constant quarrels and unhappiness. **In simple terms:** Marrying a self‑righteous man brings endless conflict. Key Takeaway Choose partners with genuine kindness. Themes marriage compatibility humor Mood lighthearted witty Type satirical literary When to use this quote - courtship - family expectations - personal values Key Concepts social critique character study Questions to Reflect On - Do we accept humor as truth? - How does satire reveal social norms? A Different Perspective The quote is a humorous exaggeration, not a literal forecast. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Monday morning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monday-morning/) [Saturday night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saturday-night/) ## Related quotes > [They who quarrel with others, instead of quarrelling with their own hearts, waste their lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guru-amar-das/they-who-quarrel-with-others-instead-of-quarrelling-with-their-own/) Guru Amar Das > [Editing is the same as quarrelling with writers - same thing exactly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-ross/editing-is-the-same-as-quarrelling-with-writers-same-thing-exactly/) [Harold Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-ross/) > [Quarrelling with a drunkard ….](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/quarrelling-with-a-drunkard/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [If everyone will try to understand the core of his own religion and adhere to it, and will not allow false teachers to dictate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/if-everyone-will-try-to-understand-the-core-of-his-own-religion-and/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Let us agree that we are marrying so we can go on quarrelling in the greatest possible comfort and convenience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrice-kindl/let-us-agree-that-we-are-marrying-so-we-can-go-on-quarrelling-in-the/) [Patrice Kindl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrice-kindl/) > [Thy head is as full of quarrels as an egg is full of meat, and yet thy head hath been beaten as addle as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/thy-head-is-as-full-of-quarrels-as-an-egg-is-full-of-meat-and-yet-thy/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I remember my parents quarrelling. They would talk as if they were against each other's ideas about Trotsky, but it was just a couple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-de-medeiros/i-remember-my-parents-quarrelling-they-would-talk-as-if-they-were/) [Maria de Medeiros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-de-medeiros/) > [Quarrelling with a drunkard is like disputing with a man who is not present there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/quarrelling-with-a-drunkard-is-like-disputing-with-a-man-who-is-not/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [“Excuse me, Scopus," Beric said quietly, "I am perfectly ready to fight with this bragadocio, and challenge him to a contest; a few hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/excuse-me-scopus-beric-said-quietly-i-am-perfectly-ready-to-fight/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I see you and St. John have been quarrelling, Jane,' said Diana, 'during your walk on the moor. But go after him; he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/i-see-you-and-st-john-have-been-quarrelling-jane-said-diana-during/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [Listen to you two, quarrelling like an old married couple.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remus-lupin/listen-to-you-two-quarrelling-like-an-old-married-couple/) [Remus Lupin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remus-lupin/) > [There is a great deal of quarrelling in the houses, and contending for power and authority; and the second wife is against the first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heber-c-kimball/there-is-a-great-deal-of-quarrelling-in-the-houses-and-contending-for/) [Heber C. Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heber-c-kimball/) > [To persons of spirit like ourselves the only happy marriage is that which is based on a firm foundation of almost incessant quarrelling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-persons-of-spirit-like-ourselves-the-only-happy-marriage-is-that/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Quarrelling means trying to show that the other man is in the wrong. (And) There is no sense in trying to do that unless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/quarrelling-means-trying-to-show-that-the-other-man-is-in-the-wrong/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“In place of those sounds some cats were quarrelling, or making love, in the gardens running the length of the square. I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/in-place-of-those-sounds-some-cats-were-quarrelling-or-making-love-in/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) ## More by Jane Austen > [Let us have the luxury of silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/let-us-have-the-luxury-of-silence/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“How earnestly did she then wish that her former opinions had been more reasonable, more moderate!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/how-earnestly-did-she-then-wish-that-her-former-opinions-had-been/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“it is very well worth-while to be tormented for two or three years of one's life, for the sake of being able to read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/it-is-very-well-worth-while-to-be-tormented-for-two-or-three-years-of/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [ “Everybody is taken in at some period or another. \[...\] In marriage especially. \[...\] There is not one in a hundred of either sex,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/everybody-is-taken-in-at-some-period-or-another-in-marriage/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [She knew that what Marianne and her mother conjectured one moment, they believed the next: that with them, to wish was to hope, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/she-knew-that-what-marianne-and-her-mother-conjectured-one-moment/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“…for I look upon the Frasers to be about as unhappy as most other married people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/for-i-look-upon-the-frasers-to-be-about-as-unhappy-as-most-other/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“It raises my spleen more than any thing, to have the pretence of being asked, of being given a choice, and at the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/it-raises-my-spleen-more-than-any-thing-to-have-the-pretence-of-being/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [her spirits wanted the solitude and silence which only numbers could give.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/her-spirits-wanted-the-solitude-and-silence-which-only-numbers-could/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“But in such cases as these a good memory is unpardonable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/but-in-such-cases-as-these-a-good-memory-is-unpardonable/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“...the pleasantness of an employment does not always evince its propriety.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/the-pleasantness-of-an-employment-does-not-always-evince-its-propriety/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Such squeamish youths as cannot bear to be connected with a little absurdity are not worth a regret.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/such-squeamish-youths-as-cannot-bear-to-be-connected-with-a-little/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“I must tell you what you will not ask, though I may wish it unsaid the next moment”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/i-must-tell-you-what-you-will-not-ask-though-i-may-wish-it-unsaid-the/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“Lady Catherine seemed quite astonished at not receiving a direct answer; and Elizabeth suspected herself to be the first creature who had ever dared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/lady-catherine-seemed-quite-astonished-at-not-receiving-a-direct/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“He had suffered, and he had learnt to think, two advantages that he had never known before…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/he-had-suffered-and-he-had-learnt-to-think-two-advantages-that-he-had/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“Vanity was the beginning and the end of Sir Walter Eliot's character; vanity of person and of situation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/vanity-was-the-beginning-and-the-end-of-sir-walter-eliot-s-character/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) [Explore all 2,013 Jane Austen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) ## More Monday morning quotes > [When I wake up on a Monday morning, it's nice knowing for the next 10-12 days that I don't have to do much of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arn-anderson/when-i-wake-up-on-a-monday-morning-it-s-nice-knowing-for-the-next-10/) [Arn Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arn-anderson/) > [“Our history teacher had the most boring voice in the world and no teaching skils to speak of. Every single class, he read aloud…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-farrell/our-history-teacher-had-the-most-boring-voice-in-the-world-and-no/) [Claire Farrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-farrell/) > [Common sense is the guy who tells you that you ought to have had your brakes relined last week before you smashed a front…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/common-sense-is-the-guy-who-tells-you-that-you-ought-to-have-had-your/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [Almost every Monday I have a charity thing. I like that. I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yogi-berra/almost-every-monday-i-have-a-charity-thing-i-like-that-i-do/) [Yogi Berra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yogi-berra/) > [I owed Lewis one thing, at least. Once you had suffered the experience of presenting a case at one of his Monday morning conferences,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-storr/i-owed-lewis-one-thing-at-least-once-you-had-suffered-the-experience/) [Anthony Storr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-storr/) > [Do one thing everyday that scares you... Taking risks takes practice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-shumate/do-one-thing-everyday-that-scares-you-taking-risks-takes-practice/) John Shumate > [Don't hide your goosebumps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-williams/don-t-hide-your-goosebumps/) [Pat Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-williams/) > [Every successful person has faced, attacked, and conquered adversity somewhere along the way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cottrell/every-successful-person-has-faced-attacked-and-conquered-adversity/) [David Cottrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cottrell/) > [The single greatest demotivator of a team is having members who are not carrying their load.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cottrell/the-single-greatest-demotivator-of-a-team-is-having-members-who-are/) [David Cottrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cottrell/) > [The only thing you sometimes have control over is perspective. You don't have control over your situation. But you have a choice about how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-pine/the-only-thing-you-sometimes-have-control-over-is-perspective-you-don/) [Chris Pine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-pine/) > [My paternal grandmother would not light a fire on the Sabbath and piled all Sunday's washing-up in a bucket, to be dealt with on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/my-paternal-grandmother-would-not-light-a-fire-on-the-sabbath-and/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [Yes, it is the Big Easy, home of the shortest hangover on the planet, where libation can greet you on Monday morning with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-mcconaughey/yes-it-is-the-big-easy-home-of-the-shortest-hangover-on-the-planet/) [Matthew McConaughey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-mcconaughey/) > [Asian players train so hard. Most of the time, on Monday mornings, the only people you see on the range are Asians. I mean,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yani-tseng/asian-players-train-so-hard-most-of-the-time-on-monday-mornings-the/) [Yani Tseng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yani-tseng/) > [Successful people keep moving, even when they are discouraged and have made mistakes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cottrell/successful-people-keep-moving-even-when-they-are-discouraged-and-have/) [David Cottrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cottrell/) > [The facts are, the reality is, you can't really enjoy it. You win a football match and by the time you get to Saturday…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-parker/the-facts-are-the-reality-is-you-can-t-really-enjoy-it-you-win-a/) [Scott Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-parker/) [Browse all 233 Monday morning quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monday-morning/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We cannot prove the contrary, to be sure—but I wish you a better fate Miss Price, than to be the wife of a man whose amiableness depends upon his own sermons; for though he may preach himself into a good humour every Sunday, it will be bad enough to have him quarrelling about green geese from Monday morning till Saturday night.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jane Austen" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/we-cannot-prove-the-contrary-to-be-sure-but-i-wish-you-a-better-fate/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Monday morning" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/we-cannot-prove-the-contrary-to-be-sure-but-i-wish-you-a-better-fate/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d8/jane-austen-39_monday-morning_we-cannot-prove-the-contrary-to-be-sure_1939374.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d8/jane-austen-39_monday-morning_we-cannot-prove-the-contrary-to-be-sure_1939374.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d8/jane-austen-39_monday-morning_we-cannot-prove-the-contrary-to-be-sure_1939374.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We cannot prove the contrary, to be sure—but I wish you a better fate Miss Price, than to be the wife of a…” — Jane Austen", "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": "Jane Austen", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“We cannot prove the contrary, to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/we-cannot-prove-the-contrary-to-be-sure-but-i-wish-you-a-better-fate/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/we-cannot-prove-the-contrary-to-be-sure-but-i-wish-you-a-better-fate/#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 } } ] } ```