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
It is strange people should be so greedy, when they are alone in the world.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Greed is perplexing when individuals are isolated and lack competition for resources.
Emily Bronte's quote reflects on human nature and the concept of greed, suggesting that it is peculiar for individuals to desire more than they need, especially when they find themselves isolated and without others to compete against. This points to a deeper understanding of the motivations behind greed and how it can sometimes be irrational when one is alone.
Themes
GreedIsolationHuman NatureSelfishnessPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about human behavior, one might reference this quote to illustrate the irrationality of greed.
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.
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Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.
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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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