Adrienne Rich On Lies, Secrets and Silence (1979)
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Like Thackeray's daughters, I read Jane Eyre in childhood, carried away "as by a whirlwind." Returning to Charlotte Brontë's most famous novel, as I did over and over in adolescence, in my twenties, thirties, now in my forties, I have never lost the sense that it contains, through and beyond the force of its creator's imagination, some nourishment I needed then and still need today.

— Adrienne Rich on Charlotte Brontë

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Like Thackeray's daughters, I read Jane Eyre in childhood, carried away "as by a whirlwind." Returning to Charlotte Brontë's most famous novel, as I did over and over in adolescence, in my twenties, thirties, now in my forties, I have never lost the sense that it contains, through and beyond the force of its creator's imagination, some nourishment I needed then and still need today." in the context of "Adrienne Rich On Lies, Secrets and Silence (1979)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Charlotte Brontë" (Quotes about Charlotte Brontë) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Adrienne Rich

About Adrienne Rich

Adrienne Rich (16 May 1929 - 27 March 2012) was an American feminist, poet, teacher, and writer.