It does good to no woman to be flattered [by a man] who does not intend to marry her; and it is madness in all women to let a secret love kindle within them, which, if unreturned and unknown, must devour the life that feeds it; and, if discovered and responded to, must lead, ignis-fatuus-like, into miry wilds whence there is no extrication.
Charlotte BronteIn sunshine, in prosperity, the flowers are very well; but how many wet days are there in lifeโNovember seasons of disaster, when a man's hearth and home would be cold indeed, without the clear, cheering gleam of intellect.
Charlotte BronteA 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.
Charlotte BronteI can only say with deeper sincerity and fuller significance what I have always said in theory - Wait God's will.
Charlotte Bronte