"I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself. I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man. I will hold to the principles received by me when I was sane, and not mad--as I am now. Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation; they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour; stringent are they; inviolate they shall be. If at my individual convenience I might break them, what would be their worth?"
Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte
qtd. in Uncommon Beauty: 7 Qualities of a Beautiful Woman, by Cynthia Heald
(Preach it, Jane. :) What a great point-- that laws and principles are there to discipline and guide us when our passions are apt to lead us astray. Our culture is one that allows passion to lead at the expense of principle.)
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