How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"He says, no varnish can hide the grain of the wood; and that the more varnish you put on, the more the grain will express itself." (22.52)
Herbert gives us some wisdom straight from his dad: you can't hide someone's true nature. Matthew might like some other expressions: put lipstick on a pig, put rouge on the corpse, making a purse out of a swine's ear, putting a racing stripe on a … never mind. We'll let you complete that one yourself.
Quote #2
"He practised on her affection in that systematic way, that he got great sums of money from her, and he induced her to buy her brother out of a share in the brewery (which had been weakly left him by his father) at an immense price, on the plea that when he was her husband he must hold and manage it all." (22.52)
We just love when our boyfriends are "systematic" with us. It's so romantic. Which makes us ask: how could Miss Havisham possibly not know that Compeyson was conning her? Was she just fooling herself?
Quote #3
All other swindlers upon earth are nothing to the self-swindlers, and with such pretences did I cheat myself. Surely a curious thing. That I should innocently take a bad half-crown of somebody else's manufacture, is reasonable enough; but that I should knowingly reckon the spurious coin of my own make, as good money! An obliging stranger, under pretence of compactly folding up my bank-notes for security's sake, abstracts the notes and gives me nutshells; but what is his sleight of hand to mine, when I fold up my own nutshells and pass them on myself as notes! (28.1)
Actually, the way Pip describes this self-swindling, it sounds pretty impressive—like when you lie so hard about where you were after curfew that you even convince yourself.
Quote #4
"You have not every reason to say so of the rest of his people," said Estella, nodding at me with an expression of face that was at once grave and rallying, "for they beset Miss Havisham with reports and insinuations to your disadvantage. They watch you, misrepresent you, write letters about you (anonymous sometimes), and you are the torment and the occupation of their lives. You can scarcely realize to yourself the hatred those people feel for you." (33.22)
Here's a pretty good example that lying about someone just makes you look bad. Miss Havisham sees right through this Mean Girls gossip and loves it.
Quote #5
There was a gay fiction among us that we were constantly enjoying ourselves, and a skeleton truth that we never did. To the best of my belief, our case was in the last aspect a rather common one. (34.8)
This is like someone posting a bunch of party pictures on Facebook in the attempt to convince her friends (and herself) that she is having the time of her life, when really she's exhausted and doesn't even like parties. Pip and Herbert are trying to keep up with society, but they're just hungry and getting into debt.
Quote #6
"Do you want me then," said Estella, turning suddenly with a fixed and serious, if not angry, look, "to deceive and entrap you?" (39.105)
Hm. When we think about it, Estella just might be one of Great Expectations' only honest characters. She's never tried to lead Pip on, but she's been cold and haughty all of her life. She just doesn't care enough to lie.
Quote #7
"Not a particle of evidence, Pip," said Mr. Jaggers, shaking his head and gathering up his skirts. "Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There's no better rule." (40.92)
Mr. Jaggers may like to know the truth—but only so he can disguise and massage it by, say, dressing it up in a frilly outfit so it looks weak and non-murderous. (Ahem, Molly.)
Quote #8
To my thinking, there was something in him that made it hopeless to attempt to disguise him. (40.107)
Once a thief, always a thief: Magwitch might think he's being oh-so-clever by taking a new name and dressing up in nice linen, but he just screams "common criminal." You can't make a gentleman out of him. Is Pip the same way? Is there always something a little blacksmith-y about him?
Quote #9
"You made your own snares. I never made them." (44.22)
Miss Havisham points out that Pip is totally to blame for his own deception. He wanted to believe Miss Havisham left him a fortune; he wanted to believe that he was meant to marry Estella, even though there was literally never a single reason for him to think that—except his own stupidity. (Sorry, dude.)
Quote #10
He turned his eyes on Mr. Jaggers whenever he raised them from the table, and was as dry and distant to me as if there were twin Wemmicks and this was the wrong one. (48.13)
There ARE twin Wemmicks. Wemmick is so good at changing his persona when at Jaggers' office we almost feel a little uneasy about his integrity.