June 26, 2024, 4:45 a.m.
Jane Eyre, a timeless classic written by Charlotte Brontë, is brimming with poignant quotes and powerful statements that have inspired readers for generations. The story’s central character, Jane, is a strong, independent woman whose reflections on life, love, and identity continue to resonate deeply. In this blog post, we've curated a collection of 34 of the most inspirational quotes from Jane, each shedding light on her resilience, wisdom, and passionate spirit. Whether you're a long-time fan of the novel or discovering it for the first time, these quotes are sure to uplift and motivate you on your journey. Dive in and let Jane's words inspire and empower you.
1. “I can live alone, if self-respect, and circumstances require me so to do. I need not sell my soul to buy bliss. I have an inward treasure born with me, which can keep me alive if all extraneous delights should be withheld, or offered only at a price I cannot afford to give.” - Charlotte Brontë
2. “HappinessThere's just no accounting for happiness,or the way it turns up like a prodigalwho comes back to the dust at your feethaving squandered a fortune far away.And how can you not forgive?You make a feast in honor of whatwas lost, and take from its place the finestgarment, which you saved for an occasionyou could not imagine, and you weep night and dayto know that you were not abandoned,that happiness saved its most extreme formfor you alone.No, happiness is the uncle you neverknew about, who flies a single-engine planeonto the grassy landing strip, hitchhikesinto town, and inquires at every dooruntil he finds you asleep midafternoonas you so often are during the unmercifulhours of your despair.It comes to the monk in his cell.It comes to the woman sweeping the streetwith a birch broom, to the childwhose mother has passed out from drink.It comes to the lover, to the dog chewinga sock, to the pusher, to the basket maker,and to the clerk stacking cans of carrotsin the night.It even comes to the boulderin the perpetual shade of pine barrens,to rain falling on the open sea,to the wineglass, weary of holding wine.” - Jane Kenyon
3. “Oh! you are a great deal too apt, you know, to like people in general. You never see fault in any body. All the world are good and agreeable in your eyes. I never heard you speak ill of a human being in my life.""I would wish not to be hasty in censuring any one; but I always speak what I think.” - Jane Austen
4. “What are you doing?" "Ya!" said Jane, whirling around, her hands held up menacingly. It was Mr. Nobley with coat, hat, and cane, watching her with wide eyes. Jane took several quick (but oh so casual) steps away from Martin's window. "Um, did I just say, 'Ya'?" "You just said 'Ya,'" he confirmed. "If I am not mistaken, it was a battle cry, warning that you were about to attack me.I, uh..." She stopped to laugh. "I wasn't aware until this precise and awkward moment that when startled in a startled in a strange place, my instincts would have me pretend to be a ninja.” - Shannon Hale
5. “Crushed again!” - W.S. Gilbert
6. “Vanity, not love, has been my folly.” - Jane Austen
7. “I never saw quite so wretched an example of what a sea-faring life can do: but to a degree, I know it is the same with them all; they are all knocked about, and exposed to every climate, and every weather, till they are not fit to be seen. It is a pity they are not knocked on the head at once, before they reach Admiral Baldwin's age.” - Jane Austen
8. “She was breathtaking in her beauty and her human spirit, he thought, unable to speak as he gazed upon her. Hers was the sort that would not fade or grow jaded with time and years, but flourish, grow more radiant with life and its experience. Hers was a beauty that no other possessed. A beauty he longed to keep, to hide away, to bask in, himself alone. She had become his. He didn’t know when, whether it had been the moment her fingertips had touched him when he was hurt, or if it had grown, like a seed, slowing spreading until Jane had become the root anchoring the shattered pieces of his heart, pulling them tight together until it resembled the organ it should.” - Charlotte Featherstone
9. “And if you couldn't be loved, the next best thing was to be let alone.” - L.M. Montgomery
10. “Take off your coat.""Excuse me?""Take it off.""No.""I want it off.""Then I suggest you hold your breath. Won't affect me in the slightest, but at least the suffocation will help pass the time for you. [Vishous to Jane]” - J.R. Ward
11. “Life, deal gently with her ... Love, never desert her” - L.M. Montgomery
12. “You make me want to suck a bruise on you just to kiss it better.--Luc to Jane--” - Rachel Gibson
13. “I love you. And I'm going to keep loving you even after you don't know I exist.” - J.R. Ward
14. “To be together is for us to be at once free as in solitude, as gay as in company. We talk, I believe, all day long: to talk to each other is but more animated and an audible thinking. All my confidence is bestowed on him, all his confidence is devoted to me; we are precisely suited in character - perfect concord is the result.” - Charlotte Brontë
15. “Vishous screamed.The only thing that was louder was the pop as the hip was relocated, as it were. And the last thing he saw before he checked out of the Conscious Inn & Suites was Jane's head whipping around in a panic. In her eyes was stark terror, as if the single worst thing that she could imagine was him in agony...And that was when he knew that he still loved her.” - J.R. Ward
16. “I don’t think my sister is old enough to have sex.”“V, she’s the same age you are.”He frowned for a moment. Was she? Or had he been born first?” - J.R. Ward
17. “It's the most charming thing about humans. You are all so sure that the lesser animals are bleeding with envy because they didn't have the good fortune to be born Homo sapiens.” - Orson Scott Card
18. “This is the Speaker for the Dead? Judging someone by appearances?" "Maybe I've fallen in love with Grego." "You've always been a sucker for people who pee on you.” - Orson Scott Card
19. “But this night is not through. We’ve made love. And now, to the bed, where the f*cking will commence.” - Charlotte Featherstone
20. “It gave Jane a wicked sense of satisfaction that he’d noticed that aspect of her sister’s personality, but she tried not to sound too arrogant. “Savannah doesn’t worry about homework. Apparently they don’t care about your GPA when you apply for beauty school.”“Beauty school, huh? I would have thought she’d already graduated valedictorian from there.”Jane blinked at him in frustration.Fairy’s side note: Adults are constantly telling teenagers that it’s what’s on the inside that matters. It’s always painful to find out that adults have lied to you.Hunter shrugged. “I guess I shouldn’t have assumed you’d be like Savannah where math is concerned.”Meaning: After all, you aren’t pretty like she is.” - Janette Rallison
21. “I love your taste, my shundori," he murmured, and she felt his body tense beneath her. "I can't get enough of it. I can't get enough of you.” - Charlotte Featherstone
22. “Matty,” Jane whispered, “what are you thinking?”He smiled, kissed her navel before glancing up at her. “Barbaric thoughts.”“You’re very pleased with yourself, aren’t you?”He laughed and slid up the length of her body. “I am. It’s such a powerfulvisual to know that my seed is responsible for the life within you and theincredibly arousing changes in your body.“And, I, of course, have nothing to do with it?”“Jane,” he whispered, “let me have my moment of male glory.” - Charlotte Featherstone
23. “Matthew,” she murmured, her voice breaking. “How can I save you?” - Charlotte Featherstone
24. “I do not know what to say, how to tempt you. If you had a price, I would pay it. If you desired particular words, I would say them. I would be anything you want, Jane. Just come back. Please come back.- Matthew in a letter to Jane.” - Charlotte Featherstone
25. “Pressing his forehead to the cool glass, he held her gaze, her palm, his eyes pleading with her. Don’t go. Don’t leave me.” - Charlotte Featherstone
26. “As I said, you have mistaken me for another. London is full of drab little peahens, sir. Now, then, I’m leaving,” she said in a huff.“To change?” he asked, unable to stop from goading her.“To write a poem for my toast,” she snapped. “And you may suffer, for I will not help you with yours.”“No need, darling,” Matthew drawled, his words intending to push her away.“I doubt you know a suitable word that will rhyme with fuck. ”“Stuck,” she said, turning to face him. “For two days, my lord. We are stuck with one another. Let us make the best of it.”“And how do you propose we do that?”“By giving each other wide berth. We will not stand together, we will not talk to one another and we will most certainly not look at one another.”“No problem from this quarter.”“Good. You may be assured that it will be no difficulty for me, either.”-Matthew and Jane” - Charlotte Featherstone
27. “It would be most right, and most wise, and, therefore must involve least suffering.” - Jane Austen
28. “Wow," she breathed."I know, right? Hung like a horse.""If you're really nice-and you live through this-I'll promise not to tell V.""About my size."She laughed a little, "No, that you assumed I'd look at you in any fashion other than professionally.” - J.R. Ward
29. “I look like Barbara Bush in drag." Aunt Jettie” - Molly Harper
30. “Aunt Jettie: "yes, i'm wandering the earth seeking revenge on ben & jerry for giving me the fat a$$ and coronary & I give out love advice to the tragically lonely."jane: "Is that an ironic eternal punishment for the lady who died an eighty-one year old spinster." jettie: "single by choice you twirp."jane: "banshee."jettie: "bloodsucker.” - Molly Harper
31. “Jane: "Look, Dave Chandler left me on the ninth floor of our university research library without my panties after we lost our virginity together. He never called me again and actually turned on his heel and walked in the opposite direction whenever he saw me on campus. Unless you're going to do that, I don't think were gonna have a problem. Gabriel?"Gabriel: "Sorry. Something strange happened inside my head when you said the word "panties". The overwhelming urge to kill Dave Chandler combined with a simultaneous loss of blood to the brain.” - Molly Harper
32. “I am so lonely without you, Aedan," Jane said simply."You truly want me?""More than anything. I'm only half without you.""Then you are my woman." His words were finality, a bond he would not permit broken. She had given herself to his keeping. He would never let her go."And you'll never leave me?" she pressed."I'll stay with you for all of ever, lass."Jane's eyes flared, and she looked at him strangely. "And then yet another day?" she asked breathlessly."Oh, aye.” - Karen Marie Moning
33. “...and I decide to stop inwardly composing the feminist world court's prosecutorial summation to the jury.” - Laurie Viera Rigler
34. “Carving?""Your name. My back. I can't fucking wait." Jane whistled under her breath. "Do I get to do it?" He barked a laugh. "No!" "Come on. I'm a surgeon, I'm good with knives.” - J.R. Ward