Charlotte Brontë
“I would always rather be happy than dignified.”
Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre (1847), chapter 34 — spoken by Jane
Documented source
Attribution
Charlotte Brontë
Source
Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre (1847), chapter 34 — spoken by Jane
In full
“I would always rather be happy than dignified.”
Status
Public domain in the United States
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About this line
St. John Rivers — handsome, cold, convinced of his own righteousness — leaves the room in displeasure, and Jane watches him go. Then she gets up and goes after him anyway. Not because she has to. Because she’d rather be warm than right. In a novel full of people performing dignity they haven’t earned, Jane just quietly chooses happiness instead. Brontë slipped the whole argument for living into one sentence.
Why we carry this line
Ever laughed so loud that every one in the restaurant turned their eyes toward you? Ever skipped for no reason other than you felt like it? Ever grabbed a super soaker and used it saying “it’s only water!”? Yeah, me neither.
Objects carrying this line
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