--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was a human being, and had a human…" description: "\"“I was a human being, and had a human being's wants: I must not linger where there was nothing to supply them.”\" — Charlotte Brontë" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ae/charlotte-bronte-144_nature-of-man_i-was-a-human-being-and-had-a-human-bein_1660055.jpg" --- # I was a human being, and had a human being's wants: I must… ![“I was a human being, and had a human being's wants: I must not linger where there was nothing to supply them.” quote by Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ae/charlotte-bronte-144_nature-of-man_i-was-a-human-being-and-had-a-human-bein_1660055.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ae/charlotte-bronte-144_nature-of-man_i-was-a-human-being-and-had-a-human-bein_1660055.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ae/charlotte-bronte-144_nature-of-man_i-was-a-human-being-and-had-a-human-bein_1660055.jpg) > ““I was a human being, and had a human being's wants: I must not linger where there was nothing to supply them.”” [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A person must seek environments that fulfill basic needs, avoiding places that cannot sustain them. **In simple terms:** Seek places that meet your needs. Key Takeaway Find supportive surroundings. Themes needs environment survival Mood reflective determined Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - career choice - housing - relationships - community involvement Key Concepts Human motivation basic needs self‑preservation Questions to Reflect On - What environments nurture you? - How do you recognize a barren setting? A Different Perspective If all options lack resources, compromise may be unavoidable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) ## Related quotes > [The world is agreed that labor is the source from which human wants are mainly supplied. There is no dispute upon this point.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/the-world-is-agreed-that-labor-is-the-source-from-which-human-wants/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [I believe a human being - if he or she wants to remain human, then he or she must do something with what we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/i-believe-a-human-being-if-he-or-she-wants-to-remain-human-then-he-or/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [Everything a human being wants can be divided into four components: love, adventure, power and fame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-heywood/everything-a-human-being-wants-can-be-divided-into-four-components/) Matthew Heywood > [It's a lot of fun to get in there and test yourself out against another human being that wants to punch your lights out,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-mitrione/it-s-a-lot-of-fun-to-get-in-there-and-test-yourself-out-against/) [Matt Mitrione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-mitrione/) > [Surely human can do what he wants but he can't want what he wants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erdem/surely-human-can-do-what-he-wants-but-he-can-t-want-what-he-wants/) [Erdem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erdem/) > [“A saint is a human being who neither wants nor needs to hurt you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-fitzgerald/a-saint-is-a-human-being-who-neither-wants-nor-needs-to-hurt-you/) [Judith Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-fitzgerald/) > [No human being who wants to read and own a book should ever have to go on a bended knee to get it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-kozol/no-human-being-who-wants-to-read-and-own-a-book-should-ever-have-to/) [Jonathan Kozol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-kozol/) > [Naturally, the human being wants to forget pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/naturally-the-human-being-wants-to-forget-pain/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [Civilization consists in the multiplication and refinement of human wants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-andrews-millikan/civilization-consists-in-the-multiplication-and-refinement-of-human/) [Robert Andrews Millikan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-andrews-millikan/) > [I think each human being wants to make their mark on the world in whatever way they can, and maybe everyone has a slight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marina-and-the-diamonds/i-think-each-human-being-wants-to-make-their-mark-on-the-world-in/) [Marina and the Diamonds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marina-and-the-diamonds/) > [Every human always wants more. We're never satisfied. True happiness doesn't come until we're fully satisfied with what we have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-human-always-wants-more-we-re-never-satisfied-true-happiness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [That's what makes a human a human, if we store information outside our bodies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-nye/that-s-what-makes-a-human-a-human-if-we-store-information-outside-our/) [Bill Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-nye/) > [I'm a human. Every human is flawed. I might be flawed in different ways than some people, or worse ways than some people, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-max/i-m-a-human-every-human-is-flawed-i-might-be-flawed-in-different-ways/) [Tucker Max](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-max/) > [Nothing captures human interest more than human tragedy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/nothing-captures-human-interest-more-than-human-tragedy/) [Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/) > [As human, we all have the same human potential, unless there is some sort of retarded brain function. The wonderful human brain is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/as-human-we-all-have-the-same-human-potential-unless-there-is-some/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) ## More by Charlotte Brontë > [When we are struck at without a reason, we should strike back again very hard; I am sure we should - so hard as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/when-we-are-struck-at-without-a-reason-we-should-strike-back-again/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [My God, whose son, as on this night, took on Him the form of man, and for man vouchsafed to suffer and bleed, controls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/my-god-whose-son-as-on-this-night-took-on-him-the-form-of-man-and-for/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“A deal of people, Miss, are for trusting all to Providence; but I say Providence will not dispense with the means, though He often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/a-deal-of-people-miss-are-for-trusting-all-to-providence-but-i-say/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“This night is not calm; the equinox still struggles in its storms. The wild rains of the day are abated; the great single cloud…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/this-night-is-not-calm-the-equinox-still-struggles-in-its-storms-the/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“How dare I, Mrs Reed? How dare I? Because it is the truth. You think I have no feelings, and that I can do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/how-dare-i-mrs-reed-how-dare-i-because-it-is-the-truth-you-think-i/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“If men could see us as we really are, they would be a little amazed; but the cleverest, the acutest men are often under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/if-men-could-see-us-as-we-really-are-they-would-be-a-little-amazed/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [If all the world hated you and believed you wicked, while your own conscience approved of you and absolved you from guilt, you would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/if-all-the-world-hated-you-and-believed-you-wicked-while-your-own/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs. With this creed, revenge never worries my heart, degradation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/life-appears-to-me-too-short-to-be-spent-in-nursing-animosity-or/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [Poverty, for me, is synonymous with degradation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/poverty-for-me-is-synonymous-with-degradation/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [When his first-born was put into his arms, he could see that the boy had inherited his own eyes, as they once were -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/when-his-first-born-was-put-into-his-arms-he-could-see-that-the-boy/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [Talented people almost always know full well the excellence that is in them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/talented-people-almost-always-know-full-well-the-excellence-that-is/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“Not one spark of spirit, not one symptom of resistance, would they have shown till the hand of the Corsican bandit had grasped that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/not-one-spark-of-spirit-not-one-symptom-of-resistance-would-they-have/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“Love can excuse anything except meanness; but meanness kills love, cripples even natural affection; without esteem true love cannot exist.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/love-can-excuse-anything-except-meanness-but-meanness-kills-love/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [I think you will learn to be natural with me, as I find it impossible to be conventional with you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/i-think-you-will-learn-to-be-natural-with-me-as-i-find-it-impossible/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“You are no ruin sir--no lighting-struck tree: you are green and vigorous. Plants will grow about your roots, whether you ask them or not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/you-are-no-ruin-sir-no-lighting-struck-tree-you-are-green-and/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) [Explore all 1,082 Charlotte Brontë quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) ## More Nature of man quotes > [There is no human nature, since there is no god to conceive it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/there-is-no-human-nature-since-there-is-no-god-to-conceive-it/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“Probably it goes without saying, but time machine guys don't get a lot of action. Had a one night stand with something cute a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-yu/probably-it-goes-without-saying-but-time-machine-guys-don-t-get-a-lot/) [Charles Yu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-yu/) > [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“We have become human doings more than human beings, and the verb “rest,” as Jesus uses it, is largely foreign to us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/we-have-become-human-doings-more-than-human-beings-and-the-verb-rest/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [“The global population of Earth are involved in the following corporate government experiments: The long term effects of - 1. Nuclear bomb fallout radiation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/the-global-population-of-earth-are-involved-in-the-following/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [Humans are animals too, but some do not like to work from expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/humans-are-animals-too-but-some-do-not-like-to-work-from-expectations/) Mak\_786 > [Humans are, as Sartre put it, 'condemned to be free'. To insist that science, or God, objectively defines moral values is to abandon our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenan-malik/humans-are-as-sartre-put-it-condemned-to-be-free-to-insist-that/) Kenan Malik > [Mankind have been slow to believe that order reigns in the universe-that the world is a cosmos and a chaos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/mankind-have-been-slow-to-believe-that-order-reigns-in-the-universe/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [Half the misery of human life might be extinguished if men would alleviate the general curse they lie under by mutual offices of compassion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/half-the-misery-of-human-life-might-be-extinguished-if-men-would/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [Every human creates his own problems. Problems are ones private property and we shouldnt meddle into them self-initiatively.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruben-papian/every-human-creates-his-own-problems-problems-are-ones-private/) [Ruben Papian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruben-papian/) > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [“In the United States law, federally designated wilderness is famously defined as 'an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-marris/in-the-united-states-law-federally-designated-wilderness-is-famously/) [Emma Marris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-marris/) > [“For similar reasons, archaic humans did not initiate any revolutions. As far as we can tell, changes in social patterns, the invention of new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/for-similar-reasons-archaic-humans-did-not-initiate-any-revolutions/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) [Browse all 12,662 Nature of man quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I was a human being, and had a human being's wants: I must not linger where there was nothing to supply them.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charlotte Brontë" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/i-was-a-human-being-and-had-a-human-being-s-wants-i-must-not-linger/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Nature of man" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/i-was-a-human-being-and-had-a-human-being-s-wants-i-must-not-linger/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ae/charlotte-bronte-144_nature-of-man_i-was-a-human-being-and-had-a-human-bein_1660055.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ae/charlotte-bronte-144_nature-of-man_i-was-a-human-being-and-had-a-human-bein_1660055.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ae/charlotte-bronte-144_nature-of-man_i-was-a-human-being-and-had-a-human-bein_1660055.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I was a human being, and had a human being's wants: I must not linger where there was nothing to supply them.” — Charlotte Brontë", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Charlotte Brontë", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I was a human being, and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/i-was-a-human-being-and-had-a-human-being-s-wants-i-must-not-linger/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/i-was-a-human-being-and-had-a-human-being-s-wants-i-must-not-linger/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```