Emma tells Harriet to trust herself, yet the irony is sharp: Emma then nudges Harriet away from the farmer who truly suits her. The sentence sounds like modern advice, honoring agency, but in practice Emma undercuts it by substituting her taste for Harriet’s. Austen exposes how easy it is to preach autonomy while steering outcomes. The line resonates because we want to believe we can choose our own joys; it warns that influence often masquerades as care. Emma’s phrasing is simple, balanced, and memorable—an aphorism people quote without the tangled scene behind it. The power word is “must,” suggesting necessity, not just permission. In Emma’s arc, learning to make this sentence true for others—by stepping back—is part of her growth. Readers feel both the lift of empowerment and the caution against subtle control.