I am angry nearly every day of my life, but I have learned not to show it; and I still try to hope not to feel it, though it may take me another forty years to do it. … I've learned to check the hasty words that rise to my lips, and when I feel that they mean to break out against my will, I just go away for a minute, and give myself a little shake for being so weak and wicked." - Meaning and context.">
Marmee March to Jo, in Ch. 8 : Jo Meets Apollyon

You think your temper is the worst in the world, but mine used to be just like it. … I've been trying to cure it for forty years, and have only succeeded in controlling it. I am angry nearly every day of my life, but I have learned not to show it; and I still try to hope not to feel it, though it may take me another forty years to do it. … I've learned to check the hasty words that rise to my lips, and when I feel that they mean to break out against my will, I just go away for a minute, and give myself a little shake for being so weak and wicked.

— Louisa May Alcott

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "You think your temper is the worst in the world, but mine used to be just like it. … I've been trying to cure it for forty years, and have only succeeded in controlling it. I am angry nearly every day of my life, but I have learned not to show it; and I still try to hope not to feel it, though it may take me another forty years to do it. … I've learned to check the hasty words that rise to my lips, and when I feel that they mean to break out against my will, I just go away for a minute, and give myself a little shake for being so weak and wicked." in the context of "Marmee March to Jo, in Ch. 8 : Jo Meets Apollyon" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Louisa May Alcott" (Quotes, Little Women (1868)) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Louisa May Alcott

About Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott (29 November 1832 – 6 March 1888) was an American novelist best remembered for her novel Little Women (1868).