“Conceit spoils the finest genius. There is not much danger that real talent or goodness will be overlooked long; even if it is, the consciousness of possessing and using it well should satisfy one, and the great charm of all power is modesty.”

American novelist, short story writer, and poet

Louisa May Alcott was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet. Raised in New England by transcendentalist parents, she wrote in the 19th century and is best known for Little Women and its sequels. Her most familiar work is Little Women, first published in 1868, followed by Good Wives, Little Men, and Jo's Boys. She began writing young, encouraged by her family, and grew up among prominent intellectuals such as Margaret Fuller, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau.