A man is master of himself to a certain point, but not beyond it. -William Crimsworth

I smiled: I thought to myself Mr. Rochester is peculiar — he seems to forget that he pays me £30 per annum for receiving his orders.

"The smile is very well," said he, catching instantly the passing expression; "but speak too."

"I was thinking, sir, that very few masters would trouble themselves to inquire whether or not their paid subordinates were piqued and hurt by their orders.

I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself.

I'll walk where my own nature would be leading. It vexes me to choose another guide.

I see at intervals the glance of a curious sort of bird through the close set bars of a cage: a vivid, restless, resolute captive is there; were it but free, it would soar cloud-high.

I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.