All 27 Uses of
principle
in
Jane Eyre
- I remember her as a slim young woman, with black hair, dark eyes, very nice features, and good, clear complexion; but she had a capricious and hasty temper, and indifferent ideas of principle or justice: still, such as she was, I preferred her to any one else at Gateshead Hall.†
Chpt 4
- …but the time will soon come when, I trust, we shall put them off in putting off our corruptible bodies; when debasement and sin will fall from us with this cumbrous frame of flesh, and only the spark of the spirit will remain, — the impalpable principle of light and thought, pure as when it left the Creator to inspire the creature: whence it came it will return; perhaps again to be communicated to some being higher than man — perhaps to pass through gradations of glory, from the pale…†
Chpt 6
- Why, in defiance of every precept and principle of this house, does she conform to the world so openly — here in an evangelical, charitable establishment — as to wear her hair one mass of curls?†
Chpt 7
- I keep it and rear it rather on the Roman Catholic principle of expiating numerous sins, great or small, by one good work.†
Chpt 14
- I believed he was naturally a man of better tendencies, higher principles, and purer tastes than such as circumstances had developed, education instilled, or destiny encouraged.†
Chpt 15 *
- I was actually permitting myself to experience a sickening sense of disappointment; but rallying my wits, and recollecting my principles, I at once called my sensations to order; and it was wonderful how I got over the temporary blunder — how I cleared up the mistake of supposing Mr. Rochester's movements a matter in which I had any cause to take a vital interest.†
Chpt 17
- She had Roman features and a double chin, disappearing into a throat like a pillar: these features appeared to me not only inflated and darkened, but even furrowed with pride; and the chin was sustained by the same principle, in a position of almost preternatural erectness.†
Chpt 17
- , of the parties, the less I felt justified in judging and blaming either him or Miss Ingram for acting in conformity to ideas and principles instilled into them, doubtless, from their childhood.†
Chpt 18
- All their class held these principles: I supposed, then, they had reasons for holding them such as I could not fathom.†
Chpt 18
- I am afraid your principles on some points are eccentric.†
Chpt 24
- My principles were never trained, Jane: they may have grown a little awry for want of attention.†
Chpt 24
- Giacinta was unprincipled and violent: I tired of her in three months.†
Chpt 27
- You think me an unfeeling, loose-principled rake: don't you?"†
Chpt 27
- I will hold to the principles received by me when I was sane, and not mad — as I am now.†
Chpt 27
- 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.†
Chpt 27
- In the midst of my pain of heart and frantic effort of principle, I abhorred myself.†
Chpt 27
- There was a reviving pleasure in this intercourse, of a kind now tasted by me for the first time — the pleasure arising from perfect congeniality of tastes, sentiments, and principles.†
Chpt 30
- Well, propensities and principles must be reconciled by some means.†
Chpt 30
- Yes; I feel now that I was right when I adhered to principle and law, and scorned and crushed the insane promptings of a frenzied moment.†
Chpt 31
- You too have principle and mind: your tastes and habits resemble Diana's and Mary's; your presence is always agreeable to me; in your conversation I have already for some time found a salutary solace.†
Chpt 33
- Can I bear the consciousness that every endearment he bestows is a sacrifice made on principle?†
Chpt 34
- Not that St. John harboured a spirit of unchristian vindictiveness —— not that he would have injured a hair of my head, if it had been fully in his power to do so. Both by nature and principle, he was superior to the mean gratification of vengeance: he had forgiven me for saying I scorned him and his love, but he had not forgotten the words; and as long as he and I lived he never would forget them.†
Chpt 35
- To his sisters, meantime, he was somewhat kinder than usual: as if afraid that mere coldness would not sufficiently convince me how completely I was banished and banned, he added the force of contrast; and this I am sure he did not by force, but on principle.†
Chpt 35
- I deeply venerated my cousin's talent and principle.†
Chpt 35
- To have yielded then would have been an error of principle; to have yielded now would have been an error of judgment.†
Chpt 35
- As she grew up, a sound English education corrected in a great measure her French defects; and when she left school, I found in her a pleasing and obliging companion: docile, good-tempered, and well-principled.†
Chpt 38
- Mary's is a clergyman, a college friend of her brother's, and, from his attainments and principles, worthy of the connection.†
Chpt 38
Definition:
-
(principle) a basic rule or beliefThe exact meaning of principle can depend upon its context. For example:
- "our guiding principles" -- basic moral beliefs that guide decisions and behavior
- "electromagnetic principles" -- rules describing how the world works
- "She lacks principles." -- lacks moral guidelines
- "We agree in principle." -- about important basic beliefs