Charlotte Brontë > Quotes

“Il silenzio può esser di tanti tipi; e ne scaturiscono significati diversi.”
― Charlotte Brontë, Villette

“E greu să lupți împotriva pornirilor firii și împotriva cerințelor omenești, dar știu din experiență că se poate. Dumnezeu ne-a dat, într-o oarecare măsură, puterea de a ne făuri propriul nostru destin și, când puterile noastre par a avea nevoie de un sprijin pe care nu-l putem căpăta, când voința noastră alege un drum pe care nu-l putem urma, nu trebuie nici să murim de foame, nici să ne lăsăm copleșiți de deznădejde; n-avem decât să căutăm altă hrană pentru sufletul nostru, tot atât de bună ca fructul oprit la care râvneam și, poate, mai curată; n-avem decât să croim, pentru pașii noștri pândiți de primejdii, un drum care, dacă e mai greu, e tot atât de direct și tot atât de larg ca drumul pe care soarta ni l-a închis.”
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“O remorso é o veneno da existência.”
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“¡Agridulce! ¿Es eso malo? No, debería ser amargo: la amargura es fuerza, es un tónico. La fuerza dulce y dócil que sigue a un sufrimiento intenso no se halla en parte alguna: se engaña a quien habla de ella.”
― Charlotte Brontë, Shirley

“Müstakbel kocam gitgide bütün dünyam haline geliyordu; hatta dünyamdan da öte, neredeyse cennet umudum olmuştu. Bütün dini inançlarımla arama girmişti adeta; insanlıkla kocaman güneş arasına girip tutulmaya neden olmuş gibiydi. O günlerde Tanrı'yı göremez olmuş, onun kullarından birini ilahım haline getirmiştim.”
― Charlotte Brontë

“We are, and must be, one and all, burdened with faults in this world: but the time will soon come when, I trust, we shall put them off in putting off our corruptible bodies; when debasement and sin will fall from us with this cumbrous frame of flesh, and only the spark of the spirit will remain,—the impalpable principle of light and thought, pure as when it left the Creator to inspire the creature: whence it came it will return; perhaps again to be communicated to some being higher than man—perhaps to pass through gradations of glory, from the pale human soul to brighten to the seraph!”
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre: The Original 1847 Unabridged and Complete Edition

“How can she bear it so quietly—so firmly?” I asked of myself. “Were I in her place, it seems to me I should wish the earth to open and swallow me up. She looks as if she were thinking of something beyond her punishment—beyond her situation: of something not round nor before her. I have heard of day-dreams—is she in a day-dream now? Her eyes are fixed on the floor, but I am sure they do not see it—her sight seems turned in, gone down into her heart: she is looking at what she can remember, I believe; not at what is really present.”
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“Oh, meine Kindheit! Ich hatte ein Herz. So passiv ich lebte, so wenig ich sprach und so kühl ich aussah, wenn ich an vergangene Tage dachte, so hatte ich noch Gefühl. Die Gegenwart - da war es besser, stoisch zu sein; was die Zukunft betraf, solch eine wie meine - da wäre es besser gewesen, tot zu sein. Und sorgfältig hielt ich alles, was in mir lebendig war, in Starrsucht und Entrückung fest.”
― Charlotte Brontë, Villette

“I thought Medusa had looked at you,1 and that you were turning to stone—perhaps now you will ask how much you are worth?” “How much am I worth?” “Oh, a trifle! Nothing of course to speak of—twenty thousand pounds, I think they say—but what is that?” “Twenty thousand pounds!”
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“I set out; I walked fast, but not far: ere I had measured a quarter of a mile, I heard the tramp of hoofs; a horseman came on, full gallop; a dog ran by his side. Away with evil presentiment! It was he: here he was, mounted on Mesrour, followed by Pilot. He saw me; for the moon had opened a blue field in the sky, and rode in it watery bright: he took his hat off, and waved it round his head. I now ran to meet him. “There!” he exclaimed, as he stretched out his hand and bent from the saddle: “You can’t do without me, that is evident. Step on my boot-toe; give me both hands: mount!” I obeyed: joy made me agile: I sprang up before him. A hearty kissing I got for a welcome, and some boastful triumph, which I swallowed as well as I could. He checked himself in his exultation to demand, “But is there anything the matter, Janet, that you come to meet me at such an hour? Is there anything wrong?” “No, but I thought you would never come. I could not bear to wait in the house for you, especially with this rain and wind.”
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre: The Original 1847 Unabridged and Complete Edition

“For those who are not hungry, it is easy to palaver about the degradation of charity, and so on: but they forget the brevity of life, as well as its bitterness. We have none of us long to live. Let us help each other through seasons of want and woe as well as we can, without heeding in the least the scruples of vain philosophy.”
― Charlotte Brontë, The Complete Novels of the Brontë Sisters

“Do you think I am an automaton? — a machine without feelings? and can bear to have my morsel of bread snatched from my lips, and my drop of living water dashed from my cup? Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless?”
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“Uczucie nie słuchające rozsądku jest wodnistym napojem; lecz rozsądek nie poskromiony uczuciem staje się kąskiem tak gorzkim i twardym, że człowiek nie może go przełknąć."
- Jane Eyre "Jane Eyre”
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“Loverless and inexpectant of love, I was as safe from spies in my heart-poverty, as the beggar from thieves in his destitution of purse.”
― Charlotte Brontë, Villette

“We know that God is everywhere; but certainly we feel His presence most when His works are on the grandest scale spread before us; and it is in the unclouded night-sky, where His worlds wheel their silent course, that we read clearest His infinitude, His omnipotence, His omnipresence. I had risen to my knees to pray for Mr. Rochester. Looking up, I, with tear-dimmed eyes, saw the mighty Milky-way. Remembering what it was—what countless systems there swept space like a soft trace of light—I felt the might and strength of God. Sure was I of His efficiency to save what He had made: convinced I grew that neither earth should perish, nor one of the souls it treasured. I turned my prayer to thanksgiving: the Source of Life was also the Saviour of spirits. Mr. Rochester was safe: he was God’s, and by God would he be guarded. I again nestled to the breast of the hill; and ere long in sleep forgot sorrow.”
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“All my heart is yours, sir: it belongs to you: and with you it would remain, were fate to exile the rest of me from your presence forever.”
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“As to the mouth, it delights at times in laughter: it is disposed to impart all that the brain conceives; though I dare say it would be silent on much the heart experiences. Mobile and flexible, it was never intended to be compressed in the eternal silence of solitude: it is a mouth which should speak much and smile often, and have human affection for its interlocutor.”
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“I think you will learn to be natural with me, as I find it impossible to be conventional with you; and then your looks and movements will have more vivacity and variety than they dare offer now. I see at intervals the glance of a curious sort of bird through the close-set bars of a cage: a vivid, restless, resolute captive is there; were it but free, it would soar cloud-high. You are still bent on going?” “It has struck nine, sir.”
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre: The Original 1847 Unabridged and Complete Edition

“Credința mea e cu totul alta. Nimeni nu mi-a arătat-o și vorbesc rar despre ea; ea este însă bucuria mea și mă leg de dânsa, căci ea aduce nădejde în sufletele tuturor. Socotesc veșnicia o odihnă necurmată, un lăcaș de lumină, nu o prăpastie și un loc de spaimă. Și afară de asta, cu această credință pot deosebi foarte limpede pe criminal de crima lui; pot să-l iert cu toată sinceritatea pe primul și s-o urăsc pe cea de-a doua; cu această credință dorința de răzbunare nu-mi poate otrăvi sufletul, nicicând josnicia nu mă scârbește prea adânc, iar nedreptatea niciodată nu mă zdrobește. Trăiesc liniștită, îndreptându-mi ochii către sfârșitul vieții mele!”
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“We took one turn round the gallery; with Graham it was very pleasant to take such a turn. I always liked dearly to hear what he had to say about either pictures or books; because without pretending to be a connoisseur, he
always spoke his thought, and that was sure to be fresh: very often it was also just and pithy. It was pleasant also to tell him some things he did not know--he listened so kindly, so teachably; unformalized by scruples lest so to bend his bright handsome head, to gather a woman's rather obscure and stammering explanation, should imperil the dignity of his manhood. And when he communicated information in return, it was with a lucid intelligence that left all his words clear graven on the memory; no explanation of his giving, no fact of his narrating, did I ever forget.”
― Charlotte Brontë, Villette

“The foregoing preface was written by my wife with a view to the publication of “The Professor,” shortly after the appearance of “Shirley.” Being dissuaded from her intention, the authoress made some use of the materials in a subsequent work—"Villette.” As, however, these two stories are in most respects unlike, it has been”
― Charlotte Brontë, The Complete Novels of the Bronte Sisters

“...the shape which shape had none...”
― Charlotte Brontë, Jan Eyre

“Betapa anehnya firasat! Begitu pula ikatan batin; dan pertanda. Kalau digabung, ketiganya membentuk misteri yang kuncinya belum ditemukan umat manusia hingga sekarang.”
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“outside, and”
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“I ask you to pass through life at my side - to be my second self, and best earthly companion.”
― Charlotte Brontë, Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

“Heureusement je sais faire aller mon monde.”
― Charlotte Brontë

“...mientras tu propia conciencia te aprobara y e absolviera de toda culpa, no estarías sin amigos.”
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“Children can feel, but they cannot analyze their feelings; and if the analysis is partially effected in thought, they know not how to express the result of the process in words.”
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“I have formed my plans—right plans I deem them—and in them I have attended to the claims of conscience, the counsels of reason. I know how soon youth would fade and bloom perish, if in the cup of bliss offered, but one drew of shame, or one flavour of remorse were detected; and I do not want sacrifice, sorrow, dissolution- such is not my taste. I wish to foster, not to blight—to earn gratitude, not to wring tears of blood—no, nor of brine: my harvest must be in smiles, in endearments, in sweet- that will do.”
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“you ought not to consider poverty a crime.”
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre