Source identified
Read & copy the quotation
“We need never be ashamed of our tears.”
- Source
- Great Expectations
- Date
- 1861
- Local voice
- Fictional narrator · Pip
Meaning of “We need never be ashamed of our tears.”
Tears are treated as an honest human response rather than evidence of weakness or failure of self-control.
Where does it come from?
Great Expectations (1861), global Chapter XIX / Volume I Chapter XIX in the Chapman & Hall three-volume first book edition. As Pip leaves the village and breaks into tears, the retrospective narrator says that “we need never be ashamed of our tears” before reflecting on ingratitude toward Joe. Verified against the scan-backed Wikisource Chapter XIX transcription and cross-checked with Project Gutenberg #1400. The passage remains literary reflection on Pip’s remorse rather than modern clinical or grief-treatment evidence.
Why the local voice matters
Great Expectations, Chapter 19.
