Go forward with joyful confidence.
George EliotRead
Certainly the determining acts of her life were not ideally beautiful. They were the mixed result of young and novel impulse struggling amidst the conditions of an imperfect social state, in which great feelings will often take the aspect of error, and great faith the aspect of illusion.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the complexity of human actions and emotions within an imperfect society.
George Eliot's quote suggests that the significant choices in a person's life are often not straightforward or beautiful but are shaped by youthful impulses and the flawed social conditions of their time. It highlights how intense emotions and deep convictions can sometimes lead to misinterpretation or misguided actions, challenging the notion of idealistic morality in a flawed world.
Themes
Human ConditionSocietyImpulseComplexityFaithError
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech highlighting the challenges faced by the youth today, this quote can illustrate the struggles of navigating life amidst societal pressures.
More from George Eliot
All quotes →You must love your work, and not be always looking over the edge of it, wanting your play to begin. And the other is, you must not be ashamed of your work, and think it would be more honorable to you to be doing something else. You must have a pride in your own work and in learning to do it well.
George EliotRead
She thought it was part of the hardship of her life that there was laid upon her the burthen of larger wants than others seemed to feel – that she had to endure this wide hopeless yearning for that something, whatever it was, that was greatest and best on this earth.
George EliotRead
Life seems to go on without effort when I am filled with music.
George EliotRead
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.
George EliotRead
Our dead are never dead to us until we have forgotten them: they can be injured by us, they can be wounded; they know all our penitence, all our aching sense that their place is empty, all the kisses we bestow on the smallest relic of their presence.
George EliotRead
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