God did not give me my life to throw away; and to do as you wish me, would, I begin to think, be almost equivalent to committing suicide.
– Charlotte Bronte
Jane Eyre, Chapter 35. Jane tells St. John that his proposal to go to India with him as a missionary’s wife would be tantemount to suicide. It is her final rebuff of St. John. Jane values her life enough to wish to protect it and not throw it away as his wife.