Anne Bronte
I would not send a poor girl into the world, ignorant of the snares that beset her path; nor would I watch and guard her, till, deprived of self-respect and self-reliance, she lost the power or the will to watch and guard herself.Collection: Power
Beauty is that quality which, next to money, is generally the most attractive to the worst kinds of men; and, therefore, it is likely to entail a great deal of trouble on the possessor.Collection: Great
It seems as if life and hope must cease together.Collection: Hope
Oh, I am very weary, Though tears no longer flow; My eyes are tired of weeping, My heart is sick of woe.Collection: Sad
A light wind swept over the corn, and all nature laughed in the sunshine.Collection: Nature
But he that dares not grasp the thorn Should never crave the rose.
His heart was like a sensitive plant, that opens for a moment in the sunshine, but curls up and shrinks into itself at the slightest touch of the finger, or the lightest breath of wind.
There is always a 'but' in this imperfect world.
All our talents increase in the using, and every faculty, both good and bad, strengthens by exercise: therefore, if you choose to use the bad, or those which tend to evil till they become your masters, and neglect the good till they dwindle away, you have only yourself to blame.
No generous mind delights to oppress the weak, but rather to cherish and protect.
Adoration isn't love.
Keep both heart and hand in your own possession, till you see good reason to part with them; and if such an occasion should never present itself, comfort your mind with this reflection: that, though in single life your joys may not be very many, your sorrows, at least, will not be more than you can bear.
It is a woman's nature to be constant - to love one and one only, blindly, tenderly, and for ever - bless them, dear creatures!
She was trusted and valued by her father, loved and courted by all dogs, cats, children, and poor people, and slighted and neglected by everybody else.
If you would have your son to walk honourably through the world, you must not attempt to clear the stones from his path, but teach him to walk firmly over them - not insist upon leading him by the hand, but let him learn to go alone.
A man must have something to grumble about; and if he can't complain that his wife harries him to death with her perversity and ill-humour, he must complain that she wears him out with her kindness and gentleness.
I see that a man cannot give himself up to drinking without being miserable one half his days and mad the other.
There are great books in this world and great worlds in books.Collection: Book
There is always a but in this imperfect world.Collection: Imperfect World
My soul is awakened, my spirit is soaring and carried aloft on the wings of the breeze.Collection: Healing
All our talents increase in the using, and every faculty, both good and bad, strengthens by exercise.Collection: Strength
I love the silent hour of night, for blissful dreams may then arise, revealing to my charmed sight what may not bless my waking eyes.Collection: Good Night
I would rather have your friendship than the love of any other woman in the world.Collection: World
It is painful to doubt the sincerity of those we love.Collection: Doubt
But smiles and tears are so alike with me, they are neither of them confined to any particular feelings: I often cry when I am happy, and smile when I am sad.Collection: Life
Because the road is rough and long, Should we despise the skylark's song?Collection: Song
if I hate the sins, I love the sinner, and would do much for his salvationCollection: Hate
No one can be happy in eternal solitude.Collection: Solitude
God will judge us by our own thoughts and deeds, not by what others say about us.Collection: Judging
You cannot expect stone to be as pliable as clay.Collection: Clay
Farewell to Thee! But not farewell To all my fondest thoughts of Thee; Within my heart they still shall dwell And they shall cheer and comfort me.Collection: Cheer
The ties that bind us to life are tougher than you imagine, or than any one can who has not felt how roughly they may be pulled without breaking.Collection: Ties
It is better to arm and strengthen your hero, than to disarm and enfeeble your foe.Collection: Hero
To wheedle and coax is safer than to command.Collection: Command
I had been seasoned by adversity, and tutored by experience, and I longed to redeem my lost honour in the eyes of those whose opinion was more than that of all the world to me.Collection: Adversity
I cannot love a man who cannot protect me.Collection: Men
I am satisfied that if a book is a good one, it is so whatever the sex of the author may be. All novels are or should be, written for both men and women to read, and I am at a loss to conceive how a man should permit himself to write anything that would be really disgraceful to a woman, or why a woman should be censured for writing anything that would be proper and becoming for a man.Collection: Sex
I will give my whole heart and soul to my Maker if I can,' I answered, 'and not one atom more of it to you than He allows. What are you, sir, that you should set yourself up as a god, and presume to dispute possession of my heart with Him to whom I owe all I have and all I am, every blessing I ever did or ever can enjoy - and yourself among the rest - if you are a blessing, which I am half inclined to doubt.Collection: Heart
Such humble talents as God had given me I will endeavour to put to their greatest use; if I am able to amuse, I will try to benefit too; and when I fell it my duty to speak unpalatable truth, with the help of God, I will speak it, through it be to the prejudice of my name and to the detriment of my reader's immediate pleasure as well as my own.Collection: Humble
I cannot get him to write or speak in real, solid earnest. I don't much mind it now, but if it be always so, what shall I do with the serious part of myself?Collection: Real
I do believe a young lady can't be too careful who she marries.Collection: Believe
All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity, that the dry, shriveled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut.Collection: Nuts
I see that a man cannot give himself up to drinking without being miserable one half his days and mad the other; besides, I like to enjoy my life at all sides and ends, which cannot be done by one that suffers himself to be the slave of a single propensity.Collection: Drinking
But, God knows best, I concluded.Collection: God Knows
Adieu! but let me cherish, still, The hope with which I cannot part. Contempt may wound, and coldness chill, But still it lingers in my heart. And who can tell but Heaven, at last, May answer all my thousand prayers, And bid the future pay the past With joy for anguish, smiles for tears?Collection: Prayer
No; for instead of delivering myself up to the full enjoyment of the as others do, I am always troubling my head about how I could produce the same effect upon canvas; and as that can never be done, it is mere vanity and vexation of spirit.Collection: Vanity
I thought Mr. Millward never would cease telling us that he was no tea-drinker, and that it was highly injurious to keep loading the stomach with slops to the exclusion of more wholesome sustenance, and so give himself time to finish his fourth cup.Collection: Giving
If the generous ideas of youth are too often over- clouded by the sordid views of after-life, that scarcely proves them to be falseCollection: Views
Preserve me from such cordiality! It is like handling briar-roses and may-blossoms - bright enough to the eye, and outwardly soft to the touch, but you know there are thorns beneath, and every now and then you feel them too; and perhaps resent the injury by crushing them in till you have destroyed their power, though somewhat to the detriment of your own fingers.Collection: Crush
And why should he interest himself at all in my moral and intellectual capacities: what is it to him what I think and feel?' I asked myself. And my heart throbbed in answer to the question.Collection: Heart