George Eliot quotes

“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

“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

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

— George Eliot

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

— George Eliot

“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

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

— George Eliot

“One must be poor to know the luxury of giving!”

— George Eliot

“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

“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

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

— George Eliot

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

— George Eliot

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

— George Eliot

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

— George Eliot

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

— George Eliot

“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

“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

“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

“In every parting there is an image of death.”

— George Eliot

“Consequences are unpitying.”

— George Eliot

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

— George Eliot

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

— George Eliot

“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

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

— George Eliot

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

— George Eliot

“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

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

— George Eliot

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

— George Eliot

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

— George Eliot

“Breed is stronger than pasture.”

— George Eliot

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

— George Eliot