--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is strange how custom can mould our…" description: "\"“It is strange how custom can mould our tastes and ideas: many could not imagine the existence of happiness in a life of such complete exile from the w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/611/emily-bronte-574_custom_it-is-strange-how-custom-can-mould-our-t_730301.jpg" --- # It is strange how custom can mould our tastes and ideas… ![“It is strange how custom can mould our tastes and ideas: many could not imagine the existence of happiness in a life of such complete exile from the world.” quote by Emily Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/611/emily-bronte-574_custom_it-is-strange-how-custom-can-mould-our-t_730301.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/611/emily-bronte-574_custom_it-is-strange-how-custom-can-mould-our-t_730301.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/611/emily-bronte-574_custom_it-is-strange-how-custom-can-mould-our-t_730301.jpg) > ““It is strange how custom can mould our tastes and ideas: many could not imagine the existence of happiness in a life of such complete exile from the world.”” [Emily Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Customs shape our preferences, making us unable to envision happiness outside familiar constraints. **In simple terms:** Society molds what we think is possible. Key Takeaway Question your assumptions about happiness. Themes society perception happiness exile Mood reflective melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal growth - creative work - mental health - travel - relationship choices Key Concepts cultural conditioning identity formation Questions to Reflect On - What customs limit your joy? - How can you imagine happiness outside your current context? A Different Perspective Happiness can be found beyond societal expectations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Custom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/custom/) [Exile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exile/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Imagine Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagine-existence-276314/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Strange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strange/) [Strange Custom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strange-custom-5722169/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [We are what we imagine. Our very existence consists in our imagination of ourselves. Our best destiny is to imagine, at least, completely, who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-scott-momaday/we-are-what-we-imagine-our-very-existence-consists-in-our-imagination/) [N. Scott Momaday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-scott-momaday/) > [So not only can you not imagine dying, you can't really imagine existence before you were born.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cronenberg/so-not-only-can-you-not-imagine-dying-you-can-t-really-imagine/) [David Cronenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cronenberg/) > [It is impossible to imagine existence void of any intelligence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kedar-joshi/it-is-impossible-to-imagine-existence-void-of-any-intelligence/) [Kedar Joshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kedar-joshi/) > [“Our self-awareness impresses itself on us so cogently, as individuals and as a species, that we cannot imagine ourselves out of existence, even though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-e-leakey/our-self-awareness-impresses-itself-on-us-so-cogently-as-individuals/) [Richard E. Leakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-e-leakey/) > [Mankind are apt to be strongly prejudicial in favor of whatever is countenanced by antiquity, enforced by authority, and race commends by custom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-helps/mankind-are-apt-to-be-strongly-prejudicial-in-favor-of-whatever-is/) [Arthur Helps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-helps/) > [“The believer is not a slave to fashion. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abu-ameenah-bilal-philips/the-believer-is-not-a-slave-to-fashion/) [Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abu-ameenah-bilal-philips/) > [Custom, that unwritten law, By which the people keep even kings in awe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-davenport/custom-that-unwritten-law-by-which-the-people-keep-even-kings-in-awe/) [Charles Davenport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-davenport/) > [Many have original minds who do not think it - they are led away by custom!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/many-have-original-minds-who-do-not-think-it-they-are-led-away-by/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [We read that Adam and Methuselah lived so many centuries; at that time, it was the custom to marry in the family - marry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-heindel/we-read-that-adam-and-methuselah-lived-so-many-centuries-at-that-time/) [Max Heindel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-heindel/) > [Custom is custom: it is built of brass, boiler-iron, granite; facts, reasonings, arguments have no more effect upon it than the idle winds have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/custom-is-custom-it-is-built-of-brass-boiler-iron-granite-facts/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Since custom is the principal magistrate of man's life, let men by all means endeavor to obtain good customs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-bacon/since-custom-is-the-principal-magistrate-of-man-s-life-let-men-by-all/) [Francis Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-bacon/) > [If God Was A Woman… Men would come with software to be custom designed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/if-god-was-a-woman-men-would-come-with-software-to-be-custom-designed/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > [What is philosophy but a continual battle against custom?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/what-is-philosophy-but-a-continual-battle-against-custom/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Take the course opposite to custom and you will almost always do well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/take-the-course-opposite-to-custom-and-you-will-almost-always-do-well/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [My favorite event of the season is the Costume Institute Gala at the Met in May. To that I'll wear custom Vera Wang.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-winston-wolkoff/my-favorite-event-of-the-season-is-the-costume-institute-gala-at-the/) [Stephanie Winston Wolkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-winston-wolkoff/) ## More by Emily Brontë > [Honest people don't hide their deeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/honest-people-don-t-hide-their-deeds/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [He is more myself than I am. Whatever our two souls are made of, his and mine are the same.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/he-is-more-myself-than-i-am-whatever-our-two-souls-are-made-of-his/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [I shall smile when wreaths of snow Blossom where the rose should grow; I shall sing when night's decay Ushers in a drearier day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/i-shall-smile-when-wreaths-of-snow-blossom-where-the-rose-should-grow/) [Emily Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [how cruel, your veins are full of ice-water and mine are boiling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/how-cruel-your-veins-are-full-of-ice-water-and-mine-are-boiling/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods. Time will changeit,I'mwellaware, aswinterchangesthetrees. My Love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneatha…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/my-love-for-linton-is-like-the-foliage-in-the-woods-time-will/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [“I wish I were a girl again, half savage and hardy, and free; and laughing at injuries, not maddening under them! Why am I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/i-wish-i-were-a-girl-again-half-savage-and-hardy-and-free-and/) [Emily Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [The entire world is a collection of memoranda that she did exist, and that I have lost her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/the-entire-world-is-a-collection-of-memoranda-that-she-did-exist-and/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [“Papa talks enough of my defects, and shows enough scorn of me, to make it natural I should doubt myself. I doubt whether I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/papa-talks-enough-of-my-defects-and-shows-enough-scorn-of-me-to-make/) [Emily Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [“Mama never told me I had a father.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/mama-never-told-me-i-had-a-father/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [The intense horror of nightmare came over me: I tried to draw back my arm, but the hand clung to it, and a most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/the-intense-horror-of-nightmare-came-over-me-i-tried-to-draw-back-my/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [“It is not in him to be loved like me: how can she love in him what he has not?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/it-is-not-in-him-to-be-loved-like-me-how-can-she-love-in-him-what-he/) [Emily Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [I have lost the faculty of enjoying their destruction, and I am too idle to destroy for nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/i-have-lost-the-faculty-of-enjoying-their-destruction-and-i-am-too/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/my-love-for-heathcliff-resembles-the-eternal-rocks-beneath-a-source/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [Tis moonlight, summer moonlight, All soft and still and fair; The solemn hour of midnight Breathes sweet thoughts everywhere, But most where trees are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/tis-moonlight-summer-moonlight-all-soft-and-still-and-fair-the-solemn/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [“It expressed, plainer than words could do, the intense anguish at having made himself the instrument of thwarting his own revenge. Had it been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/it-expressed-plainer-than-words-could-do-the-intense-anguish-at/) [Emily Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) [Explore all 400 Emily Brontë quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) ## More Custom quotes > [My favorite event of the season is the Costume Institute Gala at the Met in May. To that I'll wear custom Vera Wang.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-winston-wolkoff/my-favorite-event-of-the-season-is-the-costume-institute-gala-at-the/) [Stephanie Winston Wolkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-winston-wolkoff/) > [Take the course opposite to custom and you will almost always do well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/take-the-course-opposite-to-custom-and-you-will-almost-always-do-well/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [What is philosophy but a continual battle against custom?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/what-is-philosophy-but-a-continual-battle-against-custom/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [If God Was A Woman… Men would come with software to be custom designed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/if-god-was-a-woman-men-would-come-with-software-to-be-custom-designed/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > [Since custom is the principal magistrate of man's life, let men by all means endeavor to obtain good customs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-bacon/since-custom-is-the-principal-magistrate-of-man-s-life-let-men-by-all/) [Francis Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-bacon/) > [Custom is custom: it is built of brass, boiler-iron, granite; facts, reasonings, arguments have no more effect upon it than the idle winds have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/custom-is-custom-it-is-built-of-brass-boiler-iron-granite-facts/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [We read that Adam and Methuselah lived so many centuries; at that time, it was the custom to marry in the family - marry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-heindel/we-read-that-adam-and-methuselah-lived-so-many-centuries-at-that-time/) [Max Heindel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-heindel/) > [Many have original minds who do not think it - they are led away by custom!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/many-have-original-minds-who-do-not-think-it-they-are-led-away-by/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [Custom, that unwritten law, By which the people keep even kings in awe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-davenport/custom-that-unwritten-law-by-which-the-people-keep-even-kings-in-awe/) [Charles Davenport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-davenport/) > [“The believer is not a slave to fashion. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abu-ameenah-bilal-philips/the-believer-is-not-a-slave-to-fashion/) [Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abu-ameenah-bilal-philips/) > [Mankind are apt to be strongly prejudicial in favor of whatever is countenanced by antiquity, enforced by authority, and race commends by custom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-helps/mankind-are-apt-to-be-strongly-prejudicial-in-favor-of-whatever-is/) [Arthur Helps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-helps/) > [“The customs and practices of life in society sweep us along.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/the-customs-and-practices-of-life-in-society-sweep-us-along/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [“This man's spiritual power has been precisely this, that he has distinguished between custom and creed. He has broken the conventions, but he has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/this-man-s-spiritual-power-has-been-precisely-this-that-he-has/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [Custom may lead a man into many errors; but it justifies none.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/custom-may-lead-a-man-into-many-errors-but-it-justifies-none/) [Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/) > [Custom is a violent and treacherous school mistress. She, by little and lithe, slyly and unperceived, slips in the foot of her authority; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/custom-is-a-violent-and-treacherous-school-mistress-she-by-little-and/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) [Browse all 148 Custom quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/custom/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is strange how custom can mould our tastes and ideas: many could not imagine the existence of happiness in a life of such complete exile from the world.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Emily Brontë" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/it-is-strange-how-custom-can-mould-our-tastes-and-ideas-many-could/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Custom" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/it-is-strange-how-custom-can-mould-our-tastes-and-ideas-many-could/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/611/emily-bronte-574_custom_it-is-strange-how-custom-can-mould-our-t_730301.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/611/emily-bronte-574_custom_it-is-strange-how-custom-can-mould-our-t_730301.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/611/emily-bronte-574_custom_it-is-strange-how-custom-can-mould-our-t_730301.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is strange how custom can mould our tastes and ideas: many could not imagine the existence of happiness…” — Emily 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": "Emily Brontë", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“It is strange how custom can...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/it-is-strange-how-custom-can-mould-our-tastes-and-ideas-many-could/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/it-is-strange-how-custom-can-mould-our-tastes-and-ideas-many-could/#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 } } ] } ```