(...)because Miss Temple has generally something to say which is newer than my own reflections; her language is singularly agreeable to me, and the information she communicates is often just what I wished to gain.” “Well, then, with Miss Temple you are good?” “Yes, in a passive way: I make no effort; I follow as inclination guides me. There is no merit in such goodness.” “A great deal: you are good to those who are good to you. It is all I ever desire to be. If people were always kind and obedient to those who are cruel and unjust, the wicked people would have it all their own way: they would never feel afraid, and so they would never alter, but would grow worse and worse. When we are struck at without a reason, we should strike back again very hard; I am sure we should—so hard as to teach the person who struck us never to do it again.” “You will change your mind, I hope, when you grow older: as yet you are but a little untaught girl.” “But I feel this, Helen; I must dislike those who, whatever I do to please them, persist in disliking me; I must resist those who punish me unjustly. It is as natural as that I should love those who show me affection, or submit to punishment when I feel it is deserved.” “Heathens and savage tribes hold that doctrine, but Christians and civilised nations disown it.” “How? I don’t understand.” “It is not violence that best overcomes hate—nor vengeance that most certainly heals injury.” “What then?” “Read the New Testament, and observe what Christ says, and how He acts; make His word your rule, and His conduct your example.” “What does He say?” “Love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good to them that hate you and despitefully use you.
Charlotte Brontë
Related A great deal; you are good to those who are good to you. It is all I ever desire to be. If people we... CHARLOTTE BRONTë But I feel this, Helen: I must dislike those who, whatever I do to please them, persist in disliking... CHARLOTTE BRONTë And recite to them the news of Abraham When he said to his father and his people: What do you ... QURAN (You do not have to be shamed in my closeness. Family are the people who must never make you feel as... JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER eat, baby. eat. chew. please. I know it hurts. I know it doesn’t feel good. CAITLYN SIEHL Were you there?” She shook her head. “No. I was here in Nain having a child.” �... FRANCINE RIVERS The ruby at Melisandre's throat gleamed red. "It is not those foes who curse you to your face that y... GEORGE R.R. MARTIN I think of you often and make no outward show, But what it means to lose you, no one will ... ANON. Daniel, he said. I would have you follow me. Master!....I will fight for you to the end!.... ELIZABETH GEORGE SPEARE Just Friends I know that I don't own you, and perhaps I never will, so anger wh... LANG LEAV So what I want to know is why it is that I can no longer find you, in my mind. You are still there, ... NEIL GAIMAN Harry’s letter to his daughter: If I could give you just one thing, I’d want it to be... HARRY BROWNE Now I'm dreaming, will I ever find you now? I walk in circles but I'll never figure out Wh... ELLIE GOULDING They keep telling you, when you’re older, you’ll have experience—and that’s supposed to be s... CHRISTOPHER ISHERWOOD Jane, my little darling (so I will call you, for so you are), you don't know what you are talking ab... CHARLOTTE BRONTë You are real," she said to herself. "Aye." His voice was deep and resonant, a caress in h... J.R. WARD To the most inconsiderate asshole of a friend, I’m writing you this letter because I know tha... CECELIA AHERN I am no king, and I am no lord, And I am no soldier at-arms," said he. "I'm none but a har... PETER S. BEAGLE December 27, 11:00 p.m. My Dear America, I’ve never written a love letter, s... KIERA CASS Do you remember all of your audiences?" Marco asks. "Not all of them," Celia says. "But I reme... ERIN MORGENSTERN For the person who tortured me in jail. For the person who tortured the many of my followers a... AHMAD MOFTIZADEH It's a fact—everyone is ignorant in some way or another. Ignorance is our deepes... VERA NAZARIAN I see your pain as clearly as I feel my own. I will share your burden so you feel it... KAMAND KOJOURI Lady Kingsley, when you read this, do attempt to keep an open mind.” “I will if you w... SABRINA JEFFRIES Did you know sometimes it frightens me-- when you say my name and I can't see you? will yo... EMILIE AUTUMN My mother tells me that when I meet someone I like, I have to ask them three questions: CAITLYN SIEHL Life is a valuable and unique opportunity to discover who you are. But it seems as soon as... RICHELLE E. GOODRICH I am Shiloh, whose box you stole. Your godmother's sickness lies in your own keeping, you can heal h... A.E. COPPARD You are always here with me when I do so, at least in my heart, and it is impossible for me to remem... NICHOLAS SPARKS Tell me what it is that you are hiding behind your eyes. Tell me of the pain, so I can make it ... JOSé N. HARRIS Breaking the circle” My eyes darken when I see my new lover. Fresh prey. My body d... ASPER BLURRY I made up my mind I was going to find someone who would love me unconditionally three hundred and si... HARUKI MURAKAMI I have brought peace to this land, and security," he began. "And what of your soul, when ... IAIN PEARS Witches are naturally nosy,” said Miss Tick, standing up. “Well, I must go. I hope we shall meet... TERRY PRATCHETT You say I am repeating Something I have said before. I shall say it again. Shall I say it... T.S. ELIOT The error all women commit. Why can’t you women love us, faults and all? Why do you place us ... OSCAR WILDE But we're not sleeping," he points out. "well, I would be," I say, "if you would let me off the... LAUREN BARNHOLDT We women, me and you. Tell me something real. Don’t just say I’m grown and ought to know. I don�... TONI MORRISON So the little prince tamed the fox. And when the hour of his departure drew near-- Ah," s... ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPéRY I ask the impossible: love me forever. Love me when all desire is gone. Love me with the s... ANA CASTILLO And see those clouds?' 'Hard to miss' 'Those are cumulus clouds. Did you know that?' ... JENNIFER E. SMITH Roo: What’s your definition of popularity? Hutch: I used to think people were popular b... E. LOCKHART I want you to tell me about every person you’ve ever been in love with. Tell me why you loved... ANDREA GIBSON I pity the woman who will love you when I am done. She will show up to your first date wit... CLEMENTINE VON RADICS Remember, the people who know me are the ones who are free to live and love without any agenda." WILLIAM PAUL YOUNG I fully understand the pressure that you are under, and that there are those who are trying to... BENON SEVAN I know the consequences of what I’ve done. Kill me if You must. There was a long sil... KIERA CASS To those who are good (to me), I am good; and to those who are not good (to me), I am also good... LAO TZU I always knew it would end like this. It always does. There’s no point in fighting it, Aladdin. It... JESSICA KHOURY And now, Henry," said Miss Tilney, "that you have made us understand each other, you may as well mak... JANE AUSTEN 6 months, 2 weeks, 4 days, and I still don’t know which month it was then or what day it... CHARLOTTE ERIKSSON What if all your hard work never pays off? What if I am the outsider to my friends and family?... QUETZAL I had no sister, but I felt as if she were one." "A sister? You think of a woman that gorgeous ... JACK CAMPBELL BEWARE OF THOSE Beware of those who are bitter, For they will never allow you T... SUZY KASSEM Everything we say and do affects people. It can be either physically or mentally. Words ca... HINA YU I have met people who truly do not believe in God, and they feel no anger when they see suffering. T... LYNN AUSTIN Fate determines your caste. You must accept it and live according to the rules." You can't real... LIBBA BRAY No sight so sad as that of a naughty child," he began, "especially a naughty little girl. Do you kno... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Eventually the Woodsman spoke. ‘We all have our routines,’ he said softly. ‘But they must have... JOHN CONNOLLY Put on what weary negligence you please, You and your fellows; I'll have it come to question: WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Questions, I've got some questions I want to know you But what if I could ask you only one... JACK JOHNSON You've never been in love? Not even close. And no ones ever in love with you? Men always... JAMES FREY People always ask me "Son what does it take To reach out and touch your dreams?" To t... TIM MCGRAW So what else can I tell you?" I asked. "I mean, to get you to reveal Lily to me." She triangled... DAVID LEVITHAN Batter my heart, three-person'd God ; for you As yet but knock ; breathe, shine, and seek to me... JOHN DONNE But what I would like to know," says Albert, "is whether there would not have been a war if th... ERICH MARIA REMARQUE Yawn... I believe that I love sleep much more than anybody I’ve ever met. CHARLES BUKOWSKI We stood there, looking at each other, saying nothing. But it was the kind of nothing that meant eve... JENNY HAN There are those who seek me a lifetime but never we meet, And those I kiss but who trample m... SARAH J. MAAS 1) I love you not for whom you are, but who i am when i'm by your side. 2) No person deser... GABRIEL GARCíA MáRQUEZ ROSE: I love you, Jack. JACK: No...don’t say your goodbyes, Rose. Don’t you give up. ... JAMES FRANCIS CAMERON A man worth being with is one… That never lies to you Is kind to people that have ... SHANNON L. ALDER As you set out on your journey to Ithaca, pray that your journey be a long one, filled wit... BARRY B. POWELL WORTHY If you ever decide to feel— feel this: I love you. I always have. I a... COCO J. GINGER He looks at me. His face is dotted with raindrops but I think there are tears too. 'I love her... SALLY GREEN Death is nothing at all, I have only slipped away into the next room, I am I and you are you... HENRY SCOTT HOLLAND Oh!" cried Anne eagerly, "I hope I do justice to all that is felt by you, and by those who rese... JANE AUSTEN You cold or something?' he said. She strained against him; she wanted to pass clear through him: 'It... TRUMAN CAPOTE ... and you might say “no, you will never do that, that’s not you, not who I know, not who I tho... CHARLOTTE ERIKSSON when you walk, you look like you’re trying to disappear. your back is gonna be fucked up. CAITLYN SIEHL There are those who seek me a lifetime but never we meet, And those i kiss but who trample me b... SARAH J. MAAS I am a lonely man," he said again that evening. "And is it not possible that you are also a lonely p... SōSEKI NATSUME He wanted you to be the small, quiet girl from Abnegation," Four says softly. "He hurt you because y... VERONICA ROTH If I were to be made a knight," said the Wart, staring dreamily into the fire, "I should insist on d... T.H. WHITE The aching in my chest isn't because I miss you, it's realizing that you have becom... TANZY SAYADI ... so this is for us. This is for us who sing, write, dance, act, study, run and love and... CHARLOTTE ERIKSSON My Angel, My greatest hope is that you never have to read this. Vee knows to give you thi... BECCA FITZPATRICK There is a land that I can go to When I have time to rest. All the people I love are there ... MARIANNE FAITHFULL You have no idea of what you are doing to me,” he warned. She smiled. “Are you trying to fr... AMANDA QUICK Tell me, he said, "What is this thing about time? Why is it better to be late than early? People are... JAMES BALDWIN What are my options?" "You could read obscure poetry while I play the triangle, I suppose. Or w... MICHELLE HODKIN I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love If you want me again look for me un... WALT WHITMAN I’m not for you,” I say desperately. “We are so different. Our lives are a thousand and one wo... JESSICA KHOURY And I — my head oppressed by horror — said: "Master, what is it that I hear? Who are t... DANTE ALIGHIERI If you hate me for who I am, then hate, you should; but I hate it when I am being, m... AKASH MANDAL Do you prefer Mitch? Or is Mitchell better?'.. .. Mitch, I say. Mitch is what my friends calle... MITCH ALBOM Here's another poem, like all others before and after, dedicated to you. There isn't ... KAMAND KOJOURI The less you associate with some people, the more your life will improve. Any time you tolerate... COLIN POWELL To my babies, Merry Christmas. I'm sorry if these letters have caught you both by surpris... COLLEEN HOOVER He shook his head. You're asking that I make myself vulnerable and that I can never do. I have only ... CORMAC MCCARTHY
More Charlotte Brontë
I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the mor... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I do not think, sir, you have any right to command me, merely because you are older than I, or becau... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I had not intended to love him; the reader knows I had wrought hard to extirpate from my soul the ge... CHARLOTTE BRONTë No sight so sad as that of a naughty child," he began, "especially a naughty little girl. Do you kno... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I know what it is to live entirely for and with what I love best on earth. I hold myself supremely b... CHARLOTTE BRONTë The trouble is not that I am single and likely to stay single, but that I am lonely and likely to st... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I can be on guard against my enemies, but God deliver me from my friends! CHARLOTTE BRONTë Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think w... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I am not an angel," I asserted; "and I will not be one till I die: I will be myself. CHARLOTTE BRONTë Gentle reader, may you never feel what I then felt! May your eyes never shed such stormy, scalding, ... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I am not an angel,' I asserted; 'and I will not be one till I die: I will be myself. Mr. Rochester, ... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will. CHARLOTTE BRONTë Monsieur, if a wife's nature loathes that of the man she is wedded to, marriage must be slavery. Aga... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I doubt if I have made the best use of all my calamities. Soft, amiable natures they would have refi... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Jane, be still; don't struggle so like a wild, frantic bird, that is rending its own plumage in its ... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Flirting is a woman’s trade, one must keep in practice. CHARLOTTE BRONTë The soul, fortunately, has an interpreter - often an unconscious but still a faithful interpreter - ... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Friends always forget those whom fortune forsakes. CHARLOTTE BRONTë If we would build on a sure foundation in friendship, we must love our friends for their sakes rathe... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I would always rather be happy than dignified. CHARLOTTE BRONTë If men could see us as we really are, they would be a little amazed; but the cleverest, the acutest ... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as ... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Good-night, my-" He stopped, bit his lip, and abruptly left me. CHARLOTTE BRONTë There is no happiness like that of being loved by your fellow creatures, and feeling that your prese... CHARLOTTE BRONTë It does good to no woman to be flattered [by a man] who does not intend to marry her; and it is madn... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Even for me life had its gleams of sunshine. CHARLOTTE BRONTë We know that God is everywhere; but certainly we feel His presence most when His works are on the gr... CHARLOTTE BRONTë It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquillity: they must have action; an... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I ask you to pass through life at my side—to be my second self, and best earthly companion. CHARLOTTE BRONTë It is a long way to Ireland, Janet, and I am sorry to send my little friend on such weary travels: b... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I have little left in myself -- I must have you. The world may laugh -- may call me absurd, selfish ... CHARLOTTE BRONTë All my heart is yours, sir: it belongs to you; and with you it would remain, were fate to exile the ... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never be... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Every atom of your flesh is as dear to me as my own: in pain and sickness it would still be dear. CHARLOTTE BRONTë Reader, I married him. CHARLOTTE BRONTë I can live alone, if self-respect, and circumstances require me so to do. I need not sell my soul to... CHARLOTTE BRONTë If all the world hated you and believed you wicked, while your own conscience approved of you and ab... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I have for the first time found what I can truly love–I have found you. You are my sympathy–my b... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity or registering wrongs. CHARLOTTE BRONTë Do you think I am an automaton? — a machine without feelings? and can bear to have my morsel of br... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to a... CHARLOTTE BRONTë No: I shall not marry Samuel Fawthrop Wynne." "I ask why? I must have a reason. In all re... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I am anchored on a resolve you cannot shake. My heart, my conscience shall dispose of my hand -- ... CHARLOTTE BRONTë There are certain phrases potent to make my blood boil -- improper influence! What old woman's cackl... CHARLOTTE BRONTë In genere si crede che le donne siano molto quiete: le donne invece provano gli stessi sentimenti de... CHARLOTTE BRONTë It is a pity that doing one's best does not always answer. CHARLOTTE BRONTë Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to a... CHARLOTTE BRONTë It is hard work to control the workings of inclination and turn the bent of nature; but that it may ... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Happiness quite unshared can scarcely be called happiness; it has no taste. CHARLOTTE BRONTë You are no ruin sir--no lighting-struck tree: you are green and vigorous. Plants will grow about you... CHARLOTTE BRONTë She sang, as requested. There was much about love in the ballad: faithful love that refused to aband... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Your god, sir, is the World. In my eyes, you, too, if not an infidel, are an idolater. I conceive th... CHARLOTTE BRONTë At that time, I well remember whatever could excite - certain accidents of the weather, for instance... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Jane, my little darling (so I will call you, for so you are), you don't know what you are talking ab... CHARLOTTE BRONTë It is a long way off, sir" "From what Jane?" "From England and from Thornfield: and ___" CHARLOTTE BRONTë No reflection was to be allowed now, not one glance was to be cast back; not even one forward. Not o... CHARLOTTE BRONTë An odour of camphor and burnt vinegar warned me when I came near the fever room: and i passed its do... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Her book has perhaps been a good one; it has refreshed, refilled, rewarmed her heart; it has set her... CHARLOTTE BRONTë But life is a battle: may we all be enabled to fight it well! CHARLOTTE BRONTë It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquility: they must have action; and... CHARLOTTE BRONTë The negation of severe suffering was the nearest approach to happiness I expected to know. Besides, ... CHARLOTTE BRONTë You — you strange — you almost unearthly thing! — I love as my own flesh. You — poor and obs... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I am, as Miss Scatcherd said, slatternly; I seldom put, and certainly never keep, things in order; I... CHARLOTTE BRONTë The word book acted as a transient stimulus CHARLOTTE BRONTë Cheerfulness, it would appear, is a matter which depends fully as much on the state of t... CHARLOTTE BRONTë As to the mouth, it delights at times in laughter; it is disposed to impart all that the brain conce... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Evening Solace The human heart has hidden treasures, In secret kept, in silence sea... CHARLOTTE BRONTë So you shun me? - you shut yourself up and grieve alone! I would rather you had come and upbraided m... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I mentally shake hands with you for your answer, despite its inaccuracy." Mr. Rochester CHARLOTTE BRONTë Rochester: "I am no better than the old lightning-struck chestnut-tree in Thornfield orchard…And w... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Tell me, now, fairy as you are, - can't you give me a charm, or a philter, or something of that sort... CHARLOTTE BRONTë My hopes were all dead --- struck with a subtle doom, such as, in one night, fell on all the first-b... CHARLOTTE BRONTë To women who please me only by their faces, I am the very devil when I find out they have neither so... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I thank my Maker, that in the midst of judgment he has remembered mercy. I humbly entreat my Redeeme... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Oh! that gentleness! how far more potent is it than force! CHARLOTTE BRONTë Then my sole relief was to walk along the corridor of the third storey, backwards and forwards, safe... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I could not help it: the restlessness was in my nature; it agitated me to pain sometimes. CHARLOTTE BRONTë Am I a liar in your eyes?" he asked passionately. "Little skeptic, you shall be convinced. What love... CHARLOTTE BRONTë And it is you, spirit--with will and energy, and virtue and purity--that I want, not alone with your... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Relinquish! What! my vocation? My great work? My foundation laid on earth for a mansion in heaven? M... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Friendship however is a plant which cannot be forced -- true friendship is no gourd spring up in a n... CHARLOTTE BRONTë And as for the vague something --- was it a sinister or a sorrowful, a designing or a desponding exp... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I hold another creed, which no one ever taught me, and which I seldom mention, but in which I deligh... CHARLOTTE BRONTë The charm of variety there was not, nor the excitement of incident; but I liked peace so well, and s... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I see at intervals the glance of a curious sort of bird through the close set bars of a cage: a vivi... CHARLOTTE BRONTë What tale do you like best to hear?' 'Oh, I have not much choice! They generally run on the same the... CHARLOTTE BRONTë To talk to each other is but a more animated and an audible thinking. CHARLOTTE BRONTë And what is hell? Can you tell me that?” “A pit full of fire.” “And should you lik... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I am no bird, no net ensnares me. CHARLOTTE BRONTë Conventionality is not morality. CHARLOTTE BRONTë Observe her when she has some knitting, or some other woman's work in hand, and sits the image of pe... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Reserved people often really need the frank discussion of their sentiments and griefs more than the ... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I try to avoid looking forward or backward, and try to keep looking upward. CHARLOTTE BRONTë I smiled: I thought to myself Mr. Rochester is peculiar — he seems to forget that he pays me £30 ... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Do you like him much?' I told you I liked him a little. Where is the use of caring for him so v... CHARLOTTE BRONTë They spoke almost as loud as Feeling: and that clamoured wildly. "Oh, comply!" it said. "Think of hi... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I have to live, perhaps, till seventy years. As far as I know, I have good health. Half a century of... CHARLOTTE BRONTë There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. CHARLOTTE BRONTë And your will shall decide your destiny," he said: "I offer you my hand, my heart, and a share of al... CHARLOTTE BRONTë [O]ur honeymoon will shine our life long: its beams will only fade over your grave or mine. CHARLOTTE BRONTë Jane: Mr. Rochester, if ever I did a good deed in my life-if ever I thought a good thought-if ever I... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Arraigned at my own bar, Memory having given her evidence of the hopes, wishes, sentiments I had bee... CHARLOTTE BRONTë It is as if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly and inextricably knotted to a simil... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man. I will hold to the principles received by me wh... CHARLOTTE BRONTë He turned away; he threw himself on his face on the sofa. 'Oh, Jane! my hope - my love - my life!' b... CHARLOTTE BRONTë God surely did not create us, and cause us to live, with the sole end of wishing always to die. I be... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I had not seen "Pride and Prejudice," till I read that sentence of yours, and then I got the book. A... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I have now been married ten years. I know what it is to live entirely for and with what I love best ... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Beauty is in the eye of the gazer. CHARLOTTE BRONTë I have a strange feeling with regard to you. As if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tigh... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Beauty is given to dolls, majesty to haughty vixens, but mind, feeling, passion and the crowning gra... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I remembered that the real world was wide, and that a varied field of hopes and fears, of sensations... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Now, I've another errand for you,' said my untiring master; "you must away to my room again. What a ... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I Believe she thought I had forgotten my station; and yours, sir.' 'Station! Station!-- y... CHARLOTTE BRONTë When once more alone, I reviewed the information I had got; looked into my heart, examined its thoug... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Good fortune opens the hand as well as the heart wonderfully; and to give somewhat when we have larg... CHARLOTTE BRONTë What the deuce is to do now? CHARLOTTE BRONTë My help had been needed and claimed; I had given it: I was pleased to have done something: trivial, ... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I am not your dear; I cannot lie down: send me to school soon, Mrs. Reed, for I hate to live here. CHARLOTTE BRONTë But I tell you--and mark my words--you will come some day to a craggy pass in the channel, where the... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Well had Solomon said,'Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred there... CHARLOTTE BRONTë That a greater fool than Jane Eyre had never breathed the breath of life; that a more fantastic idio... CHARLOTTE BRONTë But what is so headstrong as youth? What so blind as inexperience? CHARLOTTE BRONTë His presence in a room was more cheering than the brightest fire. CHARLOTTE BRONTë I am a free human being with an independent will." Jane Eyre CHARLOTTE BRONTë You transfix me quite. CHARLOTTE BRONTë Would you not be happier if you tried to forget her severity, together with the passionate emotions ... CHARLOTTE BRONTë A great deal; you are good to those who are good to you. It is all I ever desire to be. If people we... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Most true is it that 'beauty is in the eye of the gazer.' My master’s colourless, olive face, squa... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I could not unlove him now, merely because I found that he had ceased to notice me. CHARLOTTE BRONTë I will, in few words. You are cold, because you are alone: no contact strikes the fire from you that... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Of these death-white realms I formed an idea of my own: shadowy, like all the half-comprehended noti... CHARLOTTE BRONTë No; you shall tear yourself away, none shall help you: you shall yourself pluck out your right eye; ... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Those who live in retirement, whose lives have fallen amid the seclusion of schools or of other wall... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Have you heard from his lordship lately?” I asked. “Oh no! About six months ago I had... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Yes Mrs Reed, to you i owe some fearful pangs of mental suffering, but i ought to forgive you, for y... CHARLOTTE BRONTë This night is not calm; the equinox still struggles in its storms. The wild rains of the day are aba... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Who told you I was called Carl David?" "A little bird, Monsieur." "Does it fly from me to you? Then ... CHARLOTTE BRONTë ...[M]y inner self moved; my spirit shook its always-fettered wings half loose. I had a sudden feeli... CHARLOTTE BRONTë For I too liked reading, thought of a frivolous and childish kind; I could not digest or comprehend ... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I seem to have gathered up a stray lamb in my arms: you wandered out of the fold to seek your shephe... CHARLOTTE BRONTë But afterwards, is there nothing more for me in life - no true home - nothing to be dearer to me tha... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Something of vengeance I had tasted for the first time; as aromatic wine it seemed, on swallowing, w... CHARLOTTE BRONTë As I exclaimed 'Jane! Jane! Jane!' a voice- I cannot tell whence the voice came, but I know whose vo... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Yet it would be your duty to bear it, if you could not avoid it: it is weak and silly to say you can... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Love me, then, or hate me, as you will," I said at last, "you have my full and free forgiveness: ask... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Jane, I never meant to wound you thus...Will you ever forgive me?" Reader, I forgave him ... CHARLOTTE BRONTë It would take a great deal to crush me CHARLOTTE BRONTë The standard heroes and heroines of novels, are personages in whom I could never, from childhood upw... CHARLOTTE BRONTë When you are inquisitive, Jane, you always make me smile. You open your eyes like an eager bird, and... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I never met your likeness. Jane: you please me, and you master me - you seem to submit, and I like t... CHARLOTTE BRONTë You know full well as I do the value of sisters' affections: There is nothing like it in this world. CHARLOTTE BRONTë You had no right to be born; for you make no use of life. Instead of living for, in, and with yourse... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Rapidly, merrily, Life's sunny hours flit by, Gratefully, cheerily Enjoy them as they... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Consistency, madam, is the first of Christian duties. CHARLOTTE BRONTë I see you and St. John have been quarrelling, Jane,' said Diana, 'during your walk on the moor. But ... CHARLOTTE BRONTë My spirits were excited, and with pleasure and ease I talked to him during supper, and for a long ti... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Now for the hitch in Jane's character,' he said at last, speaking more calmly than from his look I h... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Jane! will you hear reason?' (he stooped and approached his lips to my ear) 'because, if you won't, ... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise fo... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Quando uma mulher sente desprezo pelo seu marido, o casamento passa a ser uma escravidão, e contra ... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Detesto l’ardire, l’ardire che appartiene all’arrogante e all’insensibile, ma amo l’audaci... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I romanzieri non dovrebbero mai consentire a se stessi di stancarsi dell’indagine della vita reale... CHARLOTTE BRONTë He that is low need fear no fall. CHARLOTTE BRONTë ...there were two gentleman seated by it talking in French;impossible to follow their rapid utteranc... CHARLOTTE BRONTë . . . for if we rarely taste the fulness of joy in this life, we yet more rarely savor the acrid bit... CHARLOTTE BRONTë . . . still we are none of us perfect . . . CHARLOTTE BRONTë I gave, at first, attention close; Then interest warm ensued; From interest, as improvem... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Qué terrible esfuerzo de dejar aquello que queremos CHARLOTTE BRONTë Un hombre no puede olvidar la devoción que sentía por una mujer así, no debe ser, no puede ser CHARLOTTE BRONTë It was her pleasure, her joy, to make me still the master in all things. CHARLOTTE BRONTë -Let respect be the foundation, affection the first floor, love the superstructure; Mdlle Reuters is... CHARLOTTE BRONTë A man is master of himself to a certain point, but not beyond it. -William Crimsworth CHARLOTTE BRONTë I held a brief debate with myself as to whether I should change my ordinary attire for something sma... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Belgium! name unromantic and unpoetic, yet name that whenever uttered has in my ear a sound, in my h... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I'm a universal patriot...my country is the world. CHARLOTTE BRONTë Pero cuando el dolor termina el recuerdo que queda a veces se transforma en placer CHARLOTTE BRONTë I verily believe all that is desirable on earth--wealth, reputation, love--will for ever to you be t... CHARLOTTE BRONTë No man likes to acknowledge that he has made a mistake in the choice of his profession, and every ma... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I know that a pretty doll, a fair fool, might do well enough for the honeymoon; but when passion coo... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Human beings -- human children especially -- seldom deny themselves the pleasure of exercising a pow... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Tact, if it be genuine, never sleeps. CHARLOTTE BRONTë That to begin with; let respect be the foundation, affection the first floor, love the superstructur... CHARLOTTE BRONTë In sunshine, in prosperity, the flowers are very well; but how many wet days are there in life—Nov... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I sought her eye, desirous to read there the intelligence which I could not discern in her face or h... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Feeling without judgement is a washy draught indeed; but judgement untempered by feeling is too bitt... CHARLOTTE BRONTë He was the first to recognise me, and to love what he saw. CHARLOTTE BRONTë There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. We had been wandering, indeed, in the leafless s... CHARLOTTE BRONTë A strong, vague persuasion that it was better to go forward than backward, and that I could go forwa... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Worn out with this torture of thought, I rose to my knees. Night was come, and her planets were rise... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Dread remorse when you are tempted to err, Miss Eyre; remorse is the poison of life. CHARLOTTE BRONTë Novelists should never allow themselves to weary of the study of real life. If they observed this du... CHARLOTTE BRONTë And who talks of error now? I scarcely think the notion that flittered across my brain was an error.... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Sir,' I interrupted him, 'you are inexorable for that unfortunate lady; you speak of her with hate -... CHARLOTTE BRONTë Spring drew on...and a greenness grew over those brown beds, which, freshening daily, suggested the ... CHARLOTTE BRONTë I knew, you would do me good, in some way, at some time;- I saw it in your eyes when I first beheld ... CHARLOTTE BRONTë It is far better to endure patiently a smart which nobody feels but yourself, than to commit a... CHARLOTTE BRONTë All men must die. CHARLOTTE BRONTë Signs may be but the sympathies of nature with man. CHARLOTTE BRONTë You are human and fallible. CHARLOTTE BRONTë