two valentines

For the humorous side, a fantastic Valentine's Day cards made by NPR (via constantwanderlust).

For the romantic side, the letter from Captain Frederick Wentworth to Anne Elliott in my favorite Jane Austen book, Persuasion:

I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant. You alone have brought me to Bath. For you alone, I think and plan. Have you not seen this? Can you fail to have understood my wishes? I had not waited even these ten days, could I have read your feelings, as I think you must have penetrated mine. I can hardly write. I am every instant hearing something which overpowers me. You sink your voice, but I can distinguish the tones of that voice when they would be lost on others. Too good, too excellent creature! You do us justice, indeed. You do believe that there is true attachment and constancy among men. Believe it to be most fervent, most undeviating in.

F. W. (via hila-lumiere)

A Woman's Wit

[vimeo vimeo.com/7329523 w=500&h=400]

“If you said you were going off for the weekend and you were doing nothing except re-reading Emma or taking Mansfield Park to bed, that image for me would be one of pure happiness. I mean, you could bring maybe a person to bed, and that might be nicer in some way, but it wouldn’t be as fully satisfying.” — Colm Toíbín

Authors, scholars, and philosophers discuss the writing of Jane Austen in conversation around the exhibition A Woman's Wit: Jane Austen's Life and Legacy at The Morgan Library and Museum in New York. A video to watch for those who love the work of Austen, and for those who don't yet know they do. (via karigee)