--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There was nothing to cool or banish love…" description: "\"“There was nothing to cool or banish love in these circumstances, though much to create despair. Much, too, you will think, reader, to engender jealous..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08c/charlotte-bronte-144_jealousy_there-was-nothing-to-cool-or-banish-love_729617.jpg" --- # There was nothing to cool or banish love in these… ![“There was nothing to cool or banish love in these circumstances, though much to create despair. Much, too, you will think, reader, to engender jealousy: if a woman, in my position, could presume to be jealous of a woman in Miss Ingram's. But I was not jealous...Miss Ingram was a mark beneath…” quote by Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08c/charlotte-bronte-144_jealousy_there-was-nothing-to-cool-or-banish-love_729617.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08c/charlotte-bronte-144_jealousy_there-was-nothing-to-cool-or-banish-love_729617.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08c/charlotte-bronte-144_jealousy_there-was-nothing-to-cool-or-banish-love_729617.jpg) > ““There was nothing to cool or banish love in these circumstances, though much to create despair. Much, too, you will think, reader, to engender jealousy: if a woman, in my position, could presume to be jealous of a woman in Miss Ingram's. But I was not jealous...Miss Ingram was a mark beneath jealousy: she was too inferior to excite the feeling. Pardon the seeming paradox; I mean what I say. She was very showy, but she was not genuine; she had a fine person, many brilliant attainments; but her mind was poor, her heart barren by nature: nothing bloomed spontaneously on that soil; no unforced natural fruit delighted by its freshness. She was not good; she was not original: she used repeat sounding phrases from books: she never offered, nor had, any opinion of her own. She advocated a high tone of sentiment; but she did not know the sensations of sympathy and pity; tenderness and truth were not in her. Too often she betrayed this...Other eyes besides mine watched these manifestations of character--watched them closely, keenly shrewdly. Yes; the future bridegroom, Mr. Rochester himself, exercised over his intended a ceaseless surveillance; and it was from this sagacity--this guardedness of his--this perfect, clear conciousness of his fair one's defects--this obvious absence of passion in his sentiments towards her, that ever-toturing pain arose. I saw he was going to marry her, for family, perhaps political reasons, because her rank and connecions suited him; I felt he had not given her his love, and that her qualifications were ill adapted to win from him that treasure. This was the point--this was where the nerve was touched and teased--this was where the fever was sustained and fed: she could not charm him. If she had managed the victory at once, and he had yielded and sincerely laid his heart at her feet, I should have covered my face, turned to the wall, and have died to 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. The narrator critiques a woman who is superficial and lacking genuine feeling, contrasting her with a pragmatic, unemotional suitor. **In simple terms:** Superficiality vs. genuine depth; love without true feeling. Key Takeaway Beware of shallow affection and false sentiment. Themes authenticity superficiality emotional depth Mood critical melancholy Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - courtship - family expectations - personal growth Key Concepts psychology of love social critique Questions to Reflect On - What defines true authenticity in relationships? - Can love exist without deep emotional connection? A Different Perspective The narrator’s harsh judgment may overlook societal constraints on women. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Jealousy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jealousy/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Mr rochester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mr-rochester/) ## Related quotes > [“I have told you, reader, that I had learned to love Mr. Rochester; I could not unlove him now, merely because I found that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/i-have-told-you-reader-that-i-had-learned-to-love-mr-rochester-i/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“Miss Ingram was a mark beneath jealousy: she was too inferior to excite feeling. Pardon the seeming paradox; I mean what I say. She…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/miss-ingram-was-a-mark-beneath-jealousy-she-was-too-inferior-to/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“Oh, mention it! If I storm, you have the art of weeping." "Mr. Rochester, I must leave you." "For how long, Jane? For a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/oh-mention-it-if-i-storm-you-have-the-art-of-weeping-mr-rochester-i/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“Meantime, Mr. Rochester had again summoned the ladies round him, and was selecting certain of their number to be of his party. “Miss Ingram…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/meantime-mr-rochester-had-again-summoned-the-ladies-round-him-and-was/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“When do you wish to go?” “Early to-morrow morning, sir.” “Well, you must have some money; you can’t travel without money, and I daresay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/when-do-you-wish-to-go-early-to-morrow-morning-sir-well-you-must-have/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“And was Mr Rochester now ugly in my eyes?No,reader:gratitude and many associations, all pleasurable and genial,made his face the object I best liked to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/and-was-mr-rochester-now-ugly-in-my-eyes-no-reader-gratitude-and-many/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“And your will shall decide your destiny," he said: "I offer you my hand, my heart, and a share of all my possessions." You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/and-your-will-shall-decide-your-destiny-he-said-i-offer-you-my-hand/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“Tell me now, fairy as you are - can't you give me a charm, or a philter, or something of that sort, to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/tell-me-now-fairy-as-you-are-can-t-you-give-me-a-charm-or-a-philter/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“But I don't mean to flatter you: if you are cast in a different mould to the majority, it is no merit of yours:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/but-i-don-t-mean-to-flatter-you-if-you-are-cast-in-a-different-mould/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“Diana announced that she would just give me time to get over the honey-moon, and then she would come and see me. 'She had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/diana-announced-that-she-would-just-give-me-time-to-get-over-the/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“The case is very plain before me. In leaving England, I should leave a loved but empty land — Mr. Rochester is not there;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/the-case-is-very-plain-before-me-in-leaving-england-i-should-leave-a/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“What have you been doing during my absence?' 'Nothing particular; teaching Adele as usual.' 'And getting a good deal paler than you were -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/what-have-you-been-doing-during-my-absence-nothing-particular/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“Mr. Rochester : Your gaze is very direct, Miss Eyre. Do you think me handsome? Jane Eyre: No, sir.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/mr-rochester-your-gaze-is-very-direct-miss-eyre-do-you-think-me/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“Mr. Rochester had again summoned the ladies round him, and was selecting certain of their number to be of his party. “Miss Ingram is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/mr-rochester-had-again-summoned-the-ladies-round-him-and-was/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“I grieve to leave Thornfield: I love Thornfield - I love it, because I have lived in it a full and delightful life, -momentarily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/i-grieve-to-leave-thornfield-i-love-thornfield-i-love-it-because-i/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) ## 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 Jealousy quotes > [The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-vision-of-the-left-full-of-envy-and-resentment-takes-its-worst/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [“That's the catch about betrayal, of course: that it feels good, that there's something immensely pleasurable about moving from a complicated relationship which involves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-ephron/that-s-the-catch-about-betrayal-of-course-that-it-feels-good-that/) [Nora Ephron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-ephron/) > [“To be mature is, we're told, to move beyond possessiveness. Jealousy is for babies. The mature person knows that no one owns anyone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/to-be-mature-is-we-re-told-to-move-beyond-possessiveness-jealousy-is/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“He often remembered his dad's admonition that envy was mental theft. If you coveted another man's possessions, Dad said, then you should be willing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/he-often-remembered-his-dad-s-admonition-that-envy-was-mental-theft/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [Being with a jealous person is better than someone who never cares about what you do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-with-a-jealous-person-is-better-than-someone-who-never-cares/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Dont hate me cause ur man want me dont be jealouse cause hes thinking of when he says he loves u dont hate him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ana/dont-hate-me-cause-ur-man-want-me-dont-be-jealouse-cause-hes-thinking/) [Ana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ana/) > [~Haters only Hate things they cant have and the people they cant be. its just a little thing called Jealousy~](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/im-nothing/haters-only-hate-things-they-cant-have-and-the-people-they-cant-be/) Im Nothing > [“Love is like a box, fair on every side, jealousy is like a triangle, sharp at every corner,miss is like a circle,endless”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nabil-marzuq-khairi/love-is-like-a-box-fair-on-every-side-jealousy-is-like-a-triangle/) Nabil Marzuq Khairi > [I avoid envy at all costs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-winkleman/i-avoid-envy-at-all-costs/) [Claudia Winkleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-winkleman/) > [But love is different for every person. For some it's hate, for some it's joy, for some it's fear, for some it's jealousy, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-frey/but-love-is-different-for-every-person-for-some-it-s-hate-for-some-it/) [James Frey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-frey/) > [A real flame of love is a subtle thing. It burns as a will-o'-the-wisp, dancing onward to fairy lands of delight. It roars as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-dreiser/a-real-flame-of-love-is-a-subtle-thing-it-burns-as-a-will-o-the-wisp/) [Theodore Dreiser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-dreiser/) > [Men are jealous of every woman, even when they dont have the slightest interest in her themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-neruda/men-are-jealous-of-every-woman-even-when-they-dont-have-the-slightest/) [Jan Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-neruda/) > [avarice breeds envy, a worm that is always gnawing, letting the avaricious enjoy neither their own nor anyone else's good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-catherine-of-siena/avarice-breeds-envy-a-worm-that-is-always-gnawing-letting-the/) [St. Catherine of Siena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-catherine-of-siena/) > [I used to get so jealous if my wife liked another band more than my own. Come to think of it, I still do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-delonge/i-used-to-get-so-jealous-if-my-wife-liked-another-band-more-than-my/) [Tom DeLonge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-delonge/) > [Let your love drive you mad, mad about life, mad about the smell of Jasmine. Mad about the painting that reminds you of one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melody-minagar/let-your-love-drive-you-mad-mad-about-life-mad-about-the-smell-of/) [Melody Minagar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melody-minagar/) [Browse all 2,945 Jealousy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jealousy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There was nothing to cool or banish love in these circumstances, though much to create despair. Much, too, you will think, reader, to engender jealousy: if a woman, in my position, could presume to be jealous of a woman in Miss Ingram's. But I was not jealous...Miss Ingram was a mark beneath jealousy: she was too inferior to excite the feeling. Pardon the seeming paradox; I mean what I say. She was very showy, but she was not genuine; she had a fine person, many brilliant attainments; but her mind was poor, her heart barren by nature: nothing bloomed spontaneously on that soil; no unforced natural fruit delighted by its freshness. She was not good; she was not original: she used repeat sounding phrases from books: she never offered, nor had, any opinion of her own. She advocated a high tone of sentiment; but she did not know the sensations of sympathy and pity; tenderness and truth were not in her. Too often she betrayed this...Other eyes besides mine watched these manifestations of character--watched them closely, keenly shrewdly. Yes; the future bridegroom, Mr. Rochester himself, exercised over his intended a ceaseless surveillance; and it was from this sagacity--this guardedness of his--this perfect, clear conciousness of his fair one's defects--this obvious absence of passion in his sentiments towards her, that ever-toturing pain arose. I saw he was going to marry her, for family, perhaps political reasons, because her rank and connecions suited him; I felt he had not given her his love, and that her qualifications were ill adapted to win from him that treasure. This was the point--this was where the nerve was touched and teased--this was where the fever was sustained and fed: she could not charm him. 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