I wished Joe had been rather more genteelly brought up, and then I should have been so too.
– Charles Dickens
Great Expectations, Chapter 8. Pip’s perceptions about himself and his upbringing are changing, following Estella’s comments about his “coarse hands” and “thick boots.” No longer content with his class or Joe’s, he wishes they had been better brought up. We see here the awakening of Pip’s desire for self-improvement in society.