Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts. I was better after I had cried than before, – more sorry, more aware of my own ingratitude, more gentle.
– Charles Dickens
Great Expectations, Chapter 19. When Pip leaves his home village for the first time to start a new life in London, he cries. In a metaphor he compares his tears softening his own hard heart to the way rain softens the dry earth. He feels nostalgic and sentimental about family and friends he is leaving behind, especially Joe and Biddy. His tears reveal his remorse for the ingratitude he has shown to them.