Huffpost Books brings us a delightful look at Bill Deresiewicz’s A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me about Love, Friendship, and Things That Really Matter. Mr. Deresiewicz says that from Persuasion, he learned
* That true friends tell a person when he mucks up his own life.
* Despite what “When Harry Met Sally” purports, men and women can be friends.

From Sense and Sensibility, he learned
* Committing oneself to another is not an automatic “death sentence.”
* Lust, not love, occurs at first sight.

From Mansfield Park, Deresiewicz offers
* The best gift one can give another is to listen to his “story.”
* Too much money brings misery, not happiness.

From Northanger Abbey comes this advice:
* Just because one thinks up an idea it does not make it so.
* Remain open to new possibilites.

From Emma, he says he learned
* Our opinions of ourselves are not a true gauge of our true worth.
* From gossip comes wisdom.

Finally, from Pride and Prejudice, the gentleman says he discovered that
* Just because one has an opinion, it does not make him correct.
* A bit of humiliation is good for the soul.

To read the full article and check out the scenes from Austen’s novels which accompany each life lesson, visit
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-deresiewicz/jane-austen-life-lessons_b_854579.html#s270254&title=You_arent_nearly