George Eliot Quotes

Powerful George Eliot for Daily Growth

About George Eliot

George Eliot, born Mary Ann Evans on November 22, 1819, in Warwickshire, England, was a prolific Victorian novelist who wrote under the pen name George Eliot. She is renowned for her richly detailed portrayals of provincial life and deep psychological insight into human character. Mary Ann Evans was the daughter of Isaac and Christiana Evans, a farming family with strong religious beliefs. As a child, she was deeply influenced by the Bible, which would later be reflected in her writing through complex moral themes. She received a rigorous education at home, reading works by Milton, Shakespeare, and Locke. At 18, Mary began working as a school teacher, but later moved to London where she worked as a tutor. It was during this time that she met Charles Bray, a free-thinker and friend of philosopher G. H. Lewes. Their friendship profoundly influenced her intellectual growth, encouraging her interest in philosophy and social issues. In 1854, Evans began writing under the pseudonym George Eliot. Her first published work was Scenes of Clerical Life (1857), which introduced her distinctive narrative style and social critique. Her subsequent novels, including Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860), Silas Marner (1861), Middlemarch (1871-72), and Daniel Deronda (1876), cemented her status as a literary titan. George Eliot's works often explored the lives of ordinary people, delving into their emotions, motivations, and social circumstances with profound empathy. Her novels are marked by realism, but also by a deep humanism and moral sensitivity that continue to resonate today. She passed away on December 22, 1880, leaving behind a rich legacy in English literature.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"It's never too late to be what you might have been."

This quote by George Eliot suggests that it is always possible for individuals to change, grow, and become their best selves, regardless of their current age or circumstances. It implies that past mistakes, missed opportunities, or perceived limitations should not prevent anyone from striving towards personal growth and self-realization. In essence, the quote encourages people to seize new chances and pursue their potential, no matter how late in life they may be.

"The greatest gift an individual can offer others is the example of living a good life."

This quote by George Eliot emphasizes the profound impact that personal actions and conduct have on others. It suggests that one's lifestyle, driven by values such as integrity, kindness, and compassion, serves as a powerful influence in inspiring others to lead similarly fulfilling lives. Essentially, leading a 'good life' means not only achieving personal success but also positively impacting the lives of those around us, offering them an example worth following.

"Imperfection is our original state. Anyone who denies this sings poems, writes novels, makes tin gods."

This quote emphasizes that the imperfect nature of humanity is a universal truth. Artists, whether they write poetry or create other forms of art, are merely reflecting this inherent imperfection in their works. The reference to "tin gods" suggests that even our attempts to create perfect deities or idols are ultimately flawed, as they stem from our own imperfect understanding and capabilities. Essentially, George Eliot is reminding us that imperfection is not something to be denied or hidden but embraced, for it is an essential part of the human experience, and a source of creativity and inspiration.

"Life is a long lesson in humility."

George Eliot's quote, "Life is a long lesson in humility," suggests that human life serves as an extended period for learning the virtue of humility. In other words, throughout our lives, we are continually faced with circumstances that remind us of our limitations and the need to respect others, admit mistakes, or accept things beyond our control - all qualities that embody humility. This quote encourages us to view life's challenges as opportunities for personal growth rather than sources of frustration, thereby instilling a sense of perspective, compassion, and resilience.

"We do not act rightly because we have virtue or the love of virtue; we have the love of virtue because we have acted rightly."

This quote suggests that our moral values and virtues are not innate, but rather cultivated through our actions. In other words, it's not that we do good because we are inherently good, but we become good by consistently doing good deeds. It emphasizes the importance of taking action in shaping our character and morals.

Failure after long perseverance is much grander than never to have a striving good enough to be called a failure.

- George Eliot

Failure, Never, Than, Striving

In spite of his practical ability, some of his experience had petrified into maxims and quotations.

- George Eliot

Some, Petrified, His, Spite

If we had a keen vision of all that is ordinary in human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow or the squirrel's heart beat, and we should die of that roar which is the other side of silence.

- George Eliot

Die, Other, Which, Beat

The golden moments in the stream of life rush past us, and we see nothing but sand; the angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they are gone.

- George Eliot

Life, Past, Nothing, Golden

Wear a smile and have friends; wear a scowl and have wrinkles.

- George Eliot

Smile, Friends, Wear, Wrinkles

The years between fifty and seventy are the hardest. You are always being asked to do things, and yet you are not decrepit enough to turn them down.

- George Eliot

Seventy, Fifty, Always, Asked

Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions; they pass no criticisms.

- George Eliot

Pet, Ask, Pass, Agreeable

Will not a tiny speck very close to our vision blot out the glory of the world, and leave only a margin by which we see the blot? I know no speck so troublesome as self.

- George Eliot

Margin, Very, Which, Blot

Jealousy is never satisfied with anything short of an omniscience that would detect the subtlest fold of the heart.

- George Eliot

Jealousy, Never, Would, Fold

People who can't be witty exert themselves to be devout and affectionate.

- George Eliot

Witty, Themselves, Exert, Devout

It is a narrow mind which cannot look at a subject from various points of view.

- George Eliot

Mind, View, Which, Narrow

An election is coming. Universal peace is declared, and the foxes have a sincere interest in prolonging the lives of the poultry.

- George Eliot

Election, Interest, Lives, Poultry

The beginning of an acquaintance whether with persons or things is to get a definite outline of our ignorance.

- George Eliot

Beginning, Persons, Definite, Outline

Mortals are easily tempted to pinch the life out of their neighbour's buzzing glory, and think that such killing is no murder.

- George Eliot

Think, Pinch, Neighbour, Mortals

There is no private life which has not been determined by a wider public life.

- George Eliot

Private, Which, Wider, Public Life

The strongest principle of growth lies in the human choice.

- George Eliot

Growth, Principle, Lies, Strongest

For what is love itself, for the one we love best? An enfolding of immeasurable cares which yet are better than any joys outside our love.

- George Eliot

Love, Cares, Which, Joys

He was like a cock who thought the sun had risen to hear him crow.

- George Eliot

Funny, Thought, Like, Risen

It seems to me we can never give up longing and wishing while we are thoroughly alive. There are certain things we feel to be beautiful and good, and we must hunger after them.

- George Eliot

Inspirational, Give, Alive, Wishing

There is no despair so absolute as that which comes with the first moments of our first great sorrow, when we have not yet known what it is to have suffered and be healed, to have despaired and have recovered hope.

- George Eliot

Sad, Sorrow, Which, Recovered

Iteration, like friction, is likely to generate heat instead of progress.

- George Eliot

Heat, Like, Likely, Generate

A toddling little girl is a centre of common feeling which makes the most dissimilar people understand each other.

- George Eliot

Other, Makes, Which, Dissimilar

The world is full of hopeful analogies and handsome, dubious eggs, called possibilities.

- George Eliot

World, Handsome, Eggs, Analogy

Harold, like the rest of us, had many impressions which saved him the trouble of distinct ideas.

- George Eliot

Rest, Like, Which, Harold

More helpful than all wisdom is one draught of simple human pity that will not forsake us.

- George Eliot

Simple, Will, More, Forsake

The responsibility of tolerance lies with those who have the wider vision.

- George Eliot

Vision, Lies, Wider, Tolerance

Belief consists in accepting the affirmations of the soul; unbelief, in denying them.

- George Eliot

Soul, Consists, Unbelief, Accepting

It is a common enough case, that of a man being suddenly captivated by a woman nearly the opposite of his ideal.

- George Eliot

Woman, Ideal, His, Captivated

I have the conviction that excessive literary production is a social offence.

- George Eliot

Production, Social, Literary, Offence

There is a sort of jealousy which needs very little fire; it is hardly a passion, but a blight bred in the cloudy, damp despondency of uneasy egoism.

- George Eliot

Needs, Very, Which, Hardly

Death is the king of this world: 'Tis his park where he breeds life to feed him. Cries of pain are music for his banquet.

- George Eliot

Death, Pain, Cries, Tis

In all private quarrels the duller nature is triumphant by reason of dullness.

- George Eliot

Reason, Private, Quarrels, Triumphant

Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.

- George Eliot

Small Things, Small, Brought, Impulse

Worldly faces never look so worldly as at a funeral. They have the same effect of grating incongruity as the sound of a coarse voice breaking the solemn silence of night.

- George Eliot

Voice, Sound, Incongruity, Solemn

Only in the agony of parting do we look into the depths of love.

- George Eliot

Love, Parting, Agony, Depths

Conscientious people are apt to see their duty in that which is the most painful course.

- George Eliot

See, Most, Which, Conscientious

There is a great deal of unmapped country within us which would have to be taken into account in an explanation of our gusts and storms.

- George Eliot

Country, Deal, Which, Storms

In the vain laughter of folly wisdom hears half its applause.

- George Eliot

Vain, Folly, Half, Applause

It will never rain roses: when we want to have more roses we must plant more trees.

- George Eliot

Rain, Gardening, Never, Roses

A woman's heart must be of such a size and no larger, else it must be pressed small, like Chinese feet; her happiness is to be made as cakes are, by a fixed recipe.

- George Eliot

Feet, Small, Larger, Cakes

Different taste in jokes is a great strain on the affections.

- George Eliot

Humor, Strain, Great Strain, Jokes

A difference of taste in jokes is a great strain on the affections.

- George Eliot

Taste, Strain, Great Strain, Jokes

We hand folks over to God's mercy, and show none ourselves.

- George Eliot

Over, Show, Folks, Mercy

But what we call our despair is often only the painful eagerness of unfed hope.

- George Eliot

Only, Call, Eagerness, Despair

We must not sit still and look for miracles; up and doing, and the Lord will be with thee. Prayer and pains, through faith in Christ Jesus, will do anything.

- George Eliot

Doing, Through, Still, Sit

It always remains true that if we had been greater, circumstance would have been less strong against us.

- George Eliot

Strong, Always, Been, Circumstance

Ignorant kindness may have the effect of cruelty; but to be angry with it as if it were direct cruelty would be an ignorant unkindness.

- George Eliot

May, Cruelty, Would, Unkindness

No compliment can be eloquent, except as an expression of indifference.

- George Eliot

Indifference, Expression, Eloquent

What makes life dreary is the want of a motive.

- George Eliot

Want, Motive, Makes, Dreary

Rome - the city of visible history, where the past of a whole hemisphere seems moving in funeral procession with strange ancestral images and trophies gathered from afar.

- George Eliot

Travel, Rome, Images, Ancestral

No evil dooms us hopelessly except the evil we love, and desire to continue in, and make no effort to escape from.

- George Eliot

Love, Desire, Continue, Hopelessly

I'm proof against that word failure. I've seen behind it. The only failure a man ought to fear is failure of cleaving to the purpose he sees to be best.

- George Eliot

Purpose, Behind, Against, Ought

Excessive literary production is a social offense.

- George Eliot

Production, Social, Offense, Excessive

You may try but you can never imagine what it is to have a man's form of genius in you, and to suffer the slavery of being a girl.

- George Eliot

May, Imagine, Being, Being A Girl

Play not with paradoxes. That caustic which you handle in order to scorch others may happen to sear your own fingers and make them dead to the quality of things.

- George Eliot

Play, Happen, Which, Order

I'm not denyin' the women are foolish. God Almighty made 'em to match the men.

- George Eliot

Women, Made, Almighty, Women Are

When we get to wishing a great deal for ourselves, whatever we get soon turns into mere limitation and exclusion.

- George Eliot

Deal, Limitation, Exclusion, Great Deal

Cruelty, like every other vice, requires no motive outside of itself; it only requires opportunity.

- George Eliot

Other, Vice, Itself, Motive

All meanings, we know, depend on the key of interpretation.

- George Eliot

Know, Depend, Interpretation, Key

Little children are still the symbol of the eternal marriage between love and duty.

- George Eliot

Love, Family, Symbol, Between

But that intimacy of mutual embarrassment, in which each feels that the other is feeling something, having once existed, its effect is not to be done away with.

- George Eliot

Other, Feels, Which, Embarrassment

What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they are joined - to strengthen each other - to be at one with each other in silent unspeakable memories.

- George Eliot

Silent, Other, Joined, Strengthen

Perhaps the most delightful friendships are those in which there is much agreement, much disputation, and yet more personal liking.

- George Eliot

More, Agreement, Which, Delightful

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.

- George Eliot

Nature, Soul, Very, Autumn

We long for an affection altogether ignorant of our faults. Heaven has accorded this to us in the uncritical canine attachment.

- George Eliot

Pet, Accorded, Our, Affection

I like trying to get pregnant. I'm not so sure about childbirth.

- George Eliot

Trying, Like, Sure, Pregnant

The egoism which enters into our theories does not affect their sincerity; rather, the more our egoism is satisfied, the more robust is our belief.

- George Eliot

Rather, Which, Robust, Sincerity

But human experience is usually paradoxical, that means incongruous with the phrases of current talk or even current philosophy.

- George Eliot

Current, Paradoxical, Means, Human Experience

Quarrel? Nonsense; we have not quarreled. If one is not to get into a rage sometimes, what is the good of being friends?

- George Eliot

Sometimes, Rage, Get, Quarrel

Life began with waking up and loving my mother's face.

- George Eliot

Mother, Mother's Day, Loving, Waking

Knowledge slowly builds up what Ignorance in an hour pulls down.

- George Eliot

Ignorance, Hour, Builds, Slowly

No great deed is done by falterers who ask for certainty.

- George Eliot

Great, Ask, Certainty, Deed

Blessed is the influence of one true, loving human soul on another.

- George Eliot

Love, Soul, Loving, Human Soul

Breed is stronger than pasture.

- George Eliot

Stronger, Than, Pasture, Breed

Hostesses who entertain much must make up their parties as ministers make up their cabinets, on grounds other than personal liking.

- George Eliot

Personal, Other, Entertain, Ministers

The intense happiness of our union is derived in a high degree from the perfect freedom with which we each follow and declare our own impressions.

- George Eliot

Perfect, Which, Declare, Intense

There are some cases in which the sense of injury breeds not the will to inflict injuries and climb over them as a ladder, but a hatred of all injury.

- George Eliot

Some, Over, Which, Breeds

Blessed is the man, who having nothing to say, abstains from giving wordy evidence of the fact.

- George Eliot

Communication, Fact, Having, Abstain

It is easy to say how we love new friends, and what we think of them, but words can never trace out all the fibers that knit us to the old.

- George Eliot

Love, Think, New, Trace

The important work of moving the world forward does not wait to be done by perfect men.

- George Eliot

World, Important, Wait, Important Work

Vanity is as ill at ease under indifference as tenderness is under a love which it cannot return.

- George Eliot

Love, Ease, Which, Return

Falsehood is easy, truth so difficult.

- George Eliot

Truth, Easy, Difficult, Falsehood

The sons of Judah have to choose that God may again choose them. The divine principle of our race is action, choice, resolved memory.

- George Eliot

Memory, May, Principle, Resolved

Genius at first is little more than a great capacity for receiving discipline.

- George Eliot

Genius, More, Than, Receiving

Anger and jealousy can no more bear to lose sight of their objects than love.

- George Eliot

Love, Anger, More, Bear

To have in general but little feeling, seems to be the only security against feeling too much on any particular occasion.

- George Eliot

Feeling, Against, Occasion, Particular

I should like to know what is the proper function of women, if it is not to make reasons for husbands to stay at home, and still stronger reasons for bachelors to go out.

- George Eliot

Like, Still, Reasons, Bachelors

You should read history and look at ostracism, persecution, martyrdom, and that kind of thing. They always happen to the best men, you know.

- George Eliot

Happen, Always, Persecution, Martyrdom

Science is properly more scrupulous than dogma. Dogma gives a charter to mistake, but the very breath of science is a contest with mistake, and must keep the conscience alive.

- George Eliot

Mistake, Very, Contest, Gives

Might, could, would - they are contemptible auxiliaries.

- George Eliot

Might, Could, Would, Contemptible

All the learnin' my father paid for was a bit o' birch at one end and an alphabet at the other.

- George Eliot

Other, Dad, Birch, Paid

I desire no future that will break the ties with the past.

- George Eliot

Desire, Will, Break, Ties

Is it not rather what we expect in men, that they should have numerous strands of experience lying side by side and never compare them with each other?

- George Eliot

Other, Side, Compare, Lying

Hobbies are apt to run away with us, you know; it doesn't do to be run away with. We must keep the reins.

- George Eliot

Away, Keep, Apt, Hobbies

Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them.

- George Eliot

Death, Dead, Never, Forgotten

Nothing is so good as it seems beforehand.

- George Eliot

Good, Brainy, Nothing, Seems

One must be poor to know the luxury of giving!

- George Eliot

Know, Poor, Must, Luxury

The best augury of a man's success in his profession is that he thinks it the finest in the world.

- George Eliot

Profession, Finest, His, Thinks

Marriage must be a relation either of sympathy or of conquest.

- George Eliot

Marriage, Must, Either, Conquest

Excellence encourages one about life generally; it shows the spiritual wealth of the world.

- George Eliot

Positive, Wealth, Encourages, Generally

An ass may bray a good while before he shakes the stars down.

- George Eliot

Stars, May, Before, Shakes

Our deeds still travel with us from afar, and what we have been makes us what we are.

- George Eliot

Travel, Been, Still, Afar

Acting is nothing more or less than playing. The idea is to humanize life.

- George Eliot

Nothing, More, Idea, More Or Less

Adventure is not outside man; it is within.

- George Eliot

Adventure, Man, Within, Outside

Opposition may become sweet to a man when he has christened it persecution.

- George Eliot

Man, May, Persecution, Opposition

No story is the same to us after a lapse of time; or rather we who read it are no longer the same interpreters.

- George Eliot

Same, Longer, Read, Lapse

What do we live for, if not to make life less difficult for each other?

- George Eliot

Life, Difficult, Other, Less

The reward of one duty is the power to fulfill another.

- George Eliot

Reward, Veterans Day, Duty

Consequences are unpitying.

- George Eliot

Consequences

Every woman is supposed to have the same set of motives, or else to be a monster.

- George Eliot

Woman, Same, Set, Supposed

What loneliness is more lonely than distrust?

- George Eliot

Loneliness, More, Than, Distrust

That's what a man wants in a wife, mostly; he wants to make sure one fool tells him he's wise.

- George Eliot

Wife, Sure, Mostly, Fool

The only failure one should fear, is not hugging to the purpose they see as best.

- George Eliot

Failure, Purpose, See, Hugging

Our words have wings, but fly not where we would.

- George Eliot

Fly, Words, Would, Wings

And when a woman's will is as strong as the man's who wants to govern her, half her strength must be concealment.

- George Eliot

Strong, Woman, Half, Concealment

Truth has rough flavours if we bite it through.

- George Eliot

Truth, Through, Rough, Bite

The beginning of compunction is the beginning of a new life.

- George Eliot

Life, Beginning, New, New Life

The finest language is mostly made up of simple unimposing words.

- George Eliot

Words, Made, Mostly, Finest

Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds.

- George Eliot

Wisdom, Determine, Our, Deeds

The happiest women, like the happiest nations, have no history.

- George Eliot

History, Like, Happiest, Nations

When death comes it is never our tenderness that we repent from, but our severity.

- George Eliot

Never, Severity, Repent, Tenderness

When death, the great reconciler, has come, it is never our tenderness that we repent of, but our severity.

- George Eliot

Death, Never, Severity, Tenderness

It is never too late to be what you might have been.

- George Eliot

Inspirational, Never, Been, Late

There are many victories worse than a defeat.

- George Eliot

Failure, Victories, Than, Defeat

There is only one failure in life possible, and that is not to be true to the best one knows.

- George Eliot

Failure, True, Only, Be True

Whether happiness may come or not, one should try and prepare one's self to do without it.

- George Eliot

Happiness, Prepare, May, Self

In every parting there is an image of death.

- George Eliot

Death, Parting, Every, Image

I like not only to be loved, but also to be told I am loved.

- George Eliot

Love, I Am, Like, Loved

We must find our duties in what comes to us, not in what might have been.

- George Eliot

Find, Been, Might, Duties

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