It is only a poor sort of happiness that could ever come by caring very much about our own pleasures. We can only have the highest happiness such as goes along with being a great man, by having wide thoughts and much feeling for the rest of the world as well as ourselves.
George Eliot Quotations
We found 57 matching quotations.
To judge wisely, we must know how things appear to the unwise.
Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.
The beginning of an acquaintance whether with persons or things is to get a definite outline of our ignorance.
It is a common enough case, that of a man being suddenly captivated by a woman nearly the opposite of his ideal.
There is no feeling, except the extremes of fear and grief, that does not find relief in music.
Ignorance gives one a large range of probabilities.
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.
The troublesome ones in a family are usually either the wits or the idiots.
The reward of one duty is the power to fulfill another.
Can any man or woman choose duties? No more that they can choose their birthplace, or their father or mother.
Teach us to care and not to care. Teach us to sit still.
Friendship is the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words.
It's never too late to be who you might have been.
Half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important.
What we call our despair is often only the painful eagerness of unfed hope.
Different taste in jokes is a great strain on the affections.
Perhaps the most delightful friendships are those in which there is much agreement, much disputation, and yet more personal liking.
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.
The important work of moving the world forward does not wait to be done by perfect men.
Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving wordy evidence of the fact.
Anger and jealousy can no more bear to lose sight of their objects than love.
The strongest principle of growth lies in the human choice.
Every man who is not a monster, mathematician or a mad philosopher, is the slave of some woman or other.
No evil dooms us hopelessly, except the evil we love, and desire to continue in and make no effort to escape from.
The strongest principle of growth lies in human choice.
We ust find our duties in what comes to us, not in what might have been.
Wear a smile and have friends,
wear a scowl and have wrinkles.
wear a scowl and have wrinkles.
Miss Brooke had that kind of beauty which seems to be thrown into relief by poor dress.
Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving us worthy evidence of the fact.
One must be poor to know the luxury of giving.
What do we live for if not to make life less difficult for each other?
There are many victories worse than a defeat.
Only in the agony of parting do we look into the depths of love.
I think I should have no other mortal wants, if I could always have plenty of music. It seems to infuse strength into my limbs and ideas into my brain. Life seems to go on without effort, when I am filled with music.
When one is grateful for something too good for common thanks, writing is less unsatisfactory than speech-one does not, at least, hear how inadequate the words are.
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.
The scornful nostril and the high head gather not the odors that lie on the track of truth.
Be courteous, be obliging, but don't give yourself over to be melted down for the benefit of the tallow trade.
We hand folks over to God's mercy, and show none ourselves.
No soul is desolate as long as there is a human being for whom it can feel trust and reverence.
Little children are still the symbol of the eternal marriage between love and duty.
Childhood has no forebodings, but then, it is soothed by no memories of outlived sorrow.
Nothing is so good as it seems beforehand.
Speech is but broken light upon the depth Of the unspoken.
Falsehood is easy, truth so difficult.
It is never too late to become what we might have been.
Excessive literary production is a social offense.
Blessed is the influence of one true, loving human soul on another.
Keep true, never be ashamed of doing right; decide on what you think is right and stick to it.
Our deeds are like children that are born to us;they live and act apart from our own will.
Our deeds are like children that are born to us; they live and act apart from our own will. Nay, children may be strangled, but deeds never: they have an indestructible life both in and out of our consciousness.
But pride only helps us to be generous; it never makes us so, any more than vanity makes us witty.
It is never too late to be what you might have been.
Some people did what their neighbors did so that if any lunatics were at large, one might know and avoid them.
Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms.
There's folks 'ud stand on their heads and then say the fault was i' their boots.