“She had been forced into prudence in her youth, she learned romance as she grew older: the natural sequel of an unnatural beginning.”

Jane Austen’s Persuasion has long been my favorite book, and for many reasons, but every time I read that passage my love for this story only grows.

Many people interpret that passage as a sign that Austen was inspired to write this novel as a means of portraying the second chance for great love that she and her sister Cassandra never had–both women never married, due to a series of sad happenings.

While I adhere to that reading, I also see this as a denial of adult expectations. As we grow older, we are forced to become more practical: we give up on our dreams, our hopes for an epic romance, our unabashed joys and wonderment, our sense of adventure.

I see no reason to do that. If anything, as I get older I find myself more appreciative of the beauty I see around me, and the “little” moments that make me happy each day.

There is often an equation of gentleness with weakness, and this book’s heroine, Anne Elliot, thoroughly disproves that idiotic notion. Anne is nothing but gentle in her manner and actions, and yet her strength prevails. It’s Anne who shows the most emotional and intellectual fortitude during the novel’s darkest moments.

Persuasion is a great love story, and that alone would make it a good book. What makes it a classic are its underlying messages of hope and optimism. The world might be a harsh and ugly place, but we don’t have to be.