# 'and we were no longer little girls. . .

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-we-were-no-longer-little-girls/87436>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [October 15, 2001, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-we-were-no-longer-little-girls/87436 "2001-10-15T03:35:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ThisYearsGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@ThisYearsGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisYearsGirl)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2001, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-we-were-no-longer-little-girls/87436/1 "2001-10-15T03:35:50Z")

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but rather, little women.’  
I’ve noticed in television shows and movies, when a “tough” male character is portrayed as having a sensitive side, he will being reading ‘Little Women’ and crying over that line. But that line doesn’t exist in the book. What the hell’s up with that? The entire book is crammed full of enough melodramatic sadness that no matter how terrible and comicly horrific I think it is, I still find myself actually crying during parts, like when Beth goes over to Mr. Lawrence’s, and plays the piano, and “all his crustiness melts away” and he thinks about his dead granddaughter, and Jesus, it’s just sad. I’m such a loser.  
Anyway, what’s up with that line?

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**Author:** ![MattTheCroc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MattTheCroc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MattTheCroc)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-we-were-no-longer-little-girls/87436/2 "2001-10-16T08:01:13Z")

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_shrug_

I’m thinking of Moe from the Simpsons here, but from that one line, people can generally infer which book is being talked about from that one line… so actually seeing the book isn’t needed.

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-we-were-no-longer-little-girls/87436/3 "2001-10-16T17:09:59Z")

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Yeah, the only time I’ve seen this is when Moe was reading the book in the corner.

I assumed it was the final line of the book. It isn’t? What is?

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**Author:** ![ThisYearsGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@ThisYearsGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisYearsGirl)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-we-were-no-longer-little-girls/87436/4 "2001-10-16T21:28:30Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Mahaloth \*  
> \*\*I assumed it was the final line of the book. It isn’t? What is? \*\*

“‘Oh my girls, however long you may live, I never can wish you a greater happiness than this!’”

'Cause by the end of the book, they certainly are not little girls; all the three surviving sisters are married, and two have children. The title comes from a letter the father wrote the girls at the very beginning of the book where he says something about how, when he comes home, he is going to be proud of his “little women.”