I would always rather be happy than dignified.
Charlotte Brontë Jane Eyre, Chapter XXXIV (1847)
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When and why it was written
- When
- From Jane Eyre, 1847.
- Why
- Jane runs after St. John to make peace after a disagreement.
What it means
Jane chooses warmth over pride. Dignity, kept at the cost of closeness, is a poor trade.
It is a small sentence with a lot of good sense in it.
Our reading of the passage cited above, not a quotation from a commentary.
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Jane Eyre, 1847
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