I'm reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and I was very struck by this passage that I just read. Jane has decided she must reject the man she loves, despite his attempts to dissuade her. Jane is thinking to herself about her decision.
"'I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself. I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man. I will hold to the principles received by me when I was sane, and not mad- as I am now. Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour; stringent are they; inviolate they shall be. If at my individual convenience I might break them, what would be their worth? They have a worth- so I have always believed; and if I cannot believe it now, it is because I am insane-quite insane: with my veins running fire, and my heart beating faster than I can count its throbs. Preconceived opinions, foregone determinations, are all I have at this hour to stand by: there I plant my foot.'"
That was found on page 325 of my Barnes and Nobel edition. I hope to have such courage and clearness of thought should I come to such a crisis in my life.
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2 comments:
I just read a talk from the general yw meeting and Sister Dibb used that quote in her talk.
That's funny, I guess great minds think alike :)
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