“Presentiments are strange things: and so are sympathies; and so are signs; and the three combined make one mystery to which humanity had not yet found the key.”
In this quote from Charlotte Brontë, she explores the mysterious and inexplicable aspects of life such as presentiments, sympathies, and signs. By stating that these things are strange and combined they create a mystery that humanity has not yet deciphered, Brontë is highlighting the complexities of human emotions and experiences that often defy logical explanation. This quote suggests that there are forces at play in the world that go beyond our understanding, adding an element of intrigue and wonder to the human experience.
In this quote by Charlotte Brontë, the enigmatic nature of presentiments, sympathies, and signs is highlighted. These mysterious phenomena continue to intrigue humanity, challenging us to unravel their complexities and find the key to understanding them.
"Presentiments are strange things: and so are sympathies; and so are signs; and the three combined make one mystery to which humanity had not yet found the key." - Charlotte Brontë
Charlotte Brontë's quote on presentiments, sympathies, and signs poses a thought-provoking idea about mysteries in human experience. Here are some reflective questions to ponder:
Have you ever experienced a strong feeling of presentiment or intuition that something was about to happen? How did you interpret or act upon this feeling?
Do you believe in the power of sympathies, or connections with others that transcend logical explanations? How have these connections influenced your relationships or decisions?
Have you ever noticed any signs or symbols in your life that seemed to carry a deeper meaning or message? How did you interpret these signs and how did they impact your choices or paths?
How do you approach mysteries or unknown aspects of life that cannot be easily explained? Do you seek to find the key, or do you embrace the mystery and uncertainty?
“Signs may be but the sympathies of nature with man.”
“I hold another creed, which no one ever taught me, and which I seldom mention, but in which I delight, and to which I cling, for it extends hope to all; it makes eternity a rest - a mighty home, not a terror and an abyss. Besides, with this creed, I can so clearly distinguish between the criminal and his crime; I can so sincerely forgive the first while I abhor the last; with this creed, revenge never worries my heart, degradation never too deeply disgusts me, injustice never crushes me too low. I live in calm, looking to the end.”
“Human beings -- human children especially -- seldom deny themselves the pleasure of exercising a power which they are conscious of possessing, even though that power consist only in a capacity to make others wretched”
“It is strange,' pursued he, 'that while I love Rosomond Oliver so wildly-with all the intensity, indeed, of a first passion, the object of which is exquisitely beautiful, graceful, and fascinating--I experience at the same time a calm, unwarped consciousness, that she would not make me a good wife; that she is not the partner suited to me; that I should discover this within a year after marriage; and that to twelve months' rapture would succeed a lifetime of regret. This I know.”
“That night I never thought to sleep; but a slumber fell on me as soon as I lay down in bed. I was transported in thought to the scenes of childhood: I dreamt I lay in the red-room at Gateshead; that the night was dark, and my mind impressed with strange fears. The light that long ago had struck me into syncope, recalled in this vision, seemed glidingly to mount the wall, and tremblingly to pause in the centre of the obscured ceiling. I lifted up my head to look: the roof resolved to clouds, high and dim; the gleam was such as the moon imparts to vapours she is about to sever. I watched her come—watched with the strangest anticipation; as though some word of doom were to be written on her disk. She broke forth as never moon yet burst from cloud: a hand first penetrated the sable folds and waved them away; then, not a moon, but a white human form shone in the azure, inclining a glorious brow earthward. It gazed and gazed on me. It spoke to my spirit: immeasurably distant was the tone, yet so near, it whispered in my heart—'My daughter, flee temptation.''Mother, I will.'So I answered after I had waked from the trance-like dream.”
“I have for the first time found what I can truly love–I have found you. You are my sympathy–my better self–my good angel–I am bound to you with a strong attachment. I think you good, gifted, lovely: a fervent, a solemn passion is conceived in my heart; it leans to you, draws you to my centre and spring of life, wrap my existence about you–and, kindling in pure, powerful flame, fuses you and me in one.”