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Who really said it

We are all fools in love

Not Jane Austen — a line from the 2005 film Deborah Moggach born 28 June 1948 · English novelist and screenwriter
Disputed In copyright

Spoken by Charlotte Lucas in Joe Wright’s Pride & Prejudice (2005), where Deborah Moggach holds the sole screenplay credit ↗. The sentence is in none of Austen’s books. One caveat we will not hide: Wikipedia records ↗ that Emma Thompson worked on the script uncredited and made recommendations on “parts of the Collins–Charlotte storyline” — which is where this line sits — so the credit belongs to Moggach and the sentence itself may not.

Last verified 11 Sep 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

For presentations

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Disputed credit — copy with the correction

“We are all fools in love” Jane Austen did not write “We are all fools in love.” It is Charlotte Lucas’s line in the 2005 film of Pride & Prejudice, screenplay credited to Deborah Moggach. In the novel (ch. 6) Charlotte says the opposite: “Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance.” Via quotle.info

The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to Jane Austen. Use the credit shown above instead.

Can you use it?

Still under copyright. A short, credited quote is generally fine for talks, teaching, and internal decks; for commercial, published, or large-scale reuse, get permission.

Image direction — grounded in this quote’s real context; paste into your image tool

In context

Evoking the world of Deborah Moggach — English novelist and screenwriter. Theme: "We are all fools in love". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Minimalist

Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "We are all fools in love". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

The source

Work
Pride & Prejudice (2005)
Screenplay credit
Deborah Moggach (sole credit)
Spoken by
Charlotte Lucas — a fictional character
Directed by
Joe Wright
Released
16 September 2005 (UK)

CHARLOTTE: We are all fools in love.

Set it against the Charlotte of the novel, chapter 6: “Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance… it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life.” Austen’s Charlotte is a realist about marriage precisely because she does not believe anyone is a fool in love. The film softens her.

Pride and Prejudice (2005 film), transcribed dialogue at Wikiquote

How we verified this

  • Searched all eight Austen texts at Project Gutenberg, including Pride and Prejudice ↗, for “fools in love”. Zero matches.
  • Found the line in Wikiquote’s transcription of Pride and Prejudice (2005 film) ↗, attributed there to Charlotte. We have not viewed the film, so the attribution of the spoken line rests on that transcription, not on our own check of a print.
  • Read Charlotte’s actual position in chapter 6 of the novel ↗ — “Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance” — which is the opposite sentiment, and is the reason her marriage to Mr Collins reads as a calculation rather than a folly.
  • Confirmed the credits against Wikipedia’s article on the film ↗: written by Deborah Moggach, directed by Joe Wright, UK release 16 September 2005. The same article notes Emma Thompson’s uncredited script work on the Collins–Charlotte material, which we report rather than resolve.
In copyright

In copyright — a 2005 screenplay is nowhere near public domain. We are deliberately not naming a rights holder: screen writing is work for hire, so the rights sit with the production rather than the writer, and we could not reach a source stating the film’s copyright line. Austen’s 1813 novel is public domain; this sentence is not part of it.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Fact-check

Often misattributed

A screen line that has drifted onto Austen’s bookshelf — and onto the wrong Charlotte.

Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice refuted

“fools in love” returns no match in the novel ↗ or anywhere else in Austen.

Pride & Prejudice (2005) genuine

Wikiquote transcribes it ↗ as Charlotte’s line in the Joe Wright film.

Deborah Moggach — with a caveat context

She has the sole credit, but Wikipedia records ↗ Emma Thompson’s uncredited input on the Collins–Charlotte storyline. We name the credited writer and flag the doubt.

Jane Austen context

Chapter 6: “Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance.” The film makes her warmer than Austen wrote her.

Charlotte Lucas does say it — in 2005, on film. Austen’s Charlotte ↗ would have thought it sentimental.

Context

The most-rewritten character in Austen

Charlotte Lucas is the novel’s cold shower. She marries a ridiculous man with her eyes open, explains her reasoning without apology, and is the strongest evidence that Pride and Prejudice is a book about money as much as feeling.

Adaptations tend to warm her up, because a modern audience finds her bargain hard to watch. “We are all fools in love” is that warming in a single sentence — and it is why the line reads as Austen-ish while saying something Austen’s Charlotte would not say.

Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Love Truth Character

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Wikiquote: Pride and Prejudice (2005 film)en.wikiquote.org

Transcribed dialogue, including Charlotte’s line.
Pride and Prejudice (full text)gutenberg.org

Austen’s 1813 novel; chapter 6 has Charlotte’s real view of marriage.
Pride & Prejudice (2005 film)en.wikipedia.org

Credits, release dates, and Emma Thompson’s uncredited script work.
Deborah Moggachen.wikipedia.org

The credited screenwriter’s biography.
Wikiquote: Jane Austenen.wikiquote.org

Sourced Austen quotations, for comparison.

The author

About Deborah Moggach

Deborah Moggach

born 28 June 1948 · English novelist and screenwriter

Deborah Moggach (born 28 June 1948) is an English playwright, novelist and screenwriter, the author of nineteen novels including Tulip Fever (1999) and These Foolish Things (2004, filmed as The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel). She holds the sole screenplay credit on Joe Wright’s Pride & Prejudice (2005).

For writers & researchers

Cite this

The primary source (Chicago)

Pride & Prejudice, directed by Joe Wright, screenplay by Deborah Moggach (Universal Pictures / StudioCanal / Working Title Films, 2005). Dialogue as transcribed at Wikiquote. Not present in Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (1813).

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘We are all fools in love’?” Last verified 11 Sep 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/we-are-all-fools-in-love/

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