If one could wave an Austenian wand and have a skill for life granted, it would be resilience. As Jane Austen described it in Persuasion, “It was the choicest gift from heaven”. Perhaps more than anything else, resilience is the ability that predicts a happy life. To be able to get back up after a fall, to be able to overcome a failure, to be able to move on after a disappointment – resilience is the value to covet.
Most of Austen’s heroines and heroes are just ordinary everyday people: they don’t think themselves Continue reading
Austen's Guide to Happiness 