Still indomitable
was the
reply--"I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless,
the more unsustained I am, the more 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? They have a worth--so I have always believed; and if I
cannot believe it now, it is because I am insane--quite insane:
with my veins running fire, and my heart is beating faster than I
can count its throbs. Preconceived opinions, foregone
determinations, are all I have at this hour to stand by: there I
plant my foot"
~Jane Eyre
Charlotte Bronte
