I gave him my heart, and he took and pinched it to death; and flung it back to me. People feel with their hearts, Ellen, and since he has destroyed mine, I have not power to feel for him.
Emily BronteRead
He'll love and hate equally under cover, and esteem it a species of impertinence to loved or hated again.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the complexity of human emotions, where love and hate can coexist and manifest quietly.
Emily Bronte's quote explores the dual nature of human emotion, suggesting that a person can both love and hate someone simultaneously, often feeling it's inappropriate to express those feelings openly. This complexity highlights the nuanced relationships we have, where intense emotions are experienced internally rather than outwardly displayed, leading to a struggle between the desire for connection and the fear of vulnerability.
Themes
LoveHateEmotionsRelationshipsComplexity
In practice
Example use cases
In discussions about the complexities of love, one might use this quote to illustrate how emotions can be contradictory.
More from Emily Bronte
All quotes βI ran to the children's room: their door was ajar, I saw they had never laid down, though it was past midnight; but they were calmer, and did not need me to console them. The little souls were comforting each other with better thoughts than I could have hit on: no parson in the world ever pictured heaven so beautifully as they did, in their innocent talk; and, while I sobbed, and listened. I could not help wishing we were all there safe together.
Emily BronteRead
Vain are the thousand creeds That move men's hearts, unutterably vain; Worthless as withered weeds, Or idlest froth amid the boundless main.
Emily BronteRead
Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.
Emily BronteRead
He had been content with daily labour and rough animal enjoyments, 'till Catherine crossed his path. Shame at her scorn, and hope of her approval, were his first prompts to higher pursuits; and, instead of guarding him from one and winning him to the other, his endeavors to raise himself had produced just the contrary result.
Emily BronteRead
And, even yet, I dare not let it languish, Dare not indulge in memory's rapturous pain; Once drinking deep of that divinest anguish, How could I seek the empty world again?
Emily BronteRead
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