Could someone help me understand what Jane Austen meant when she said :
“There is so much of gratitude or vanity in almost every attachment, that it is not safe to leave any to itself.” - Pride & Prejudice, Volume 1, Chapter 6.
The speaker is Charlotte Lucas and she is conversing with Jane Bennet.
Almost any attachment (fancying, love, a crush) is so much influenced by vanity or feelings of gratitude (rather than any solid reasons for people to be together) that any may result in people getting hurt or wrecking their lives if just left to follow their own course.