Go forward with joyful confidence.
George EliotRead
There is hardly any mental misery worse than that of having our own serious phrases, our own rooted beliefs, caricatured by a charlatan or a hireling.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote expresses the pain of having one's beliefs misrepresented or mocked by insincere individuals.
George Eliot highlights the profound distress that arises when deeply held convictions are distorted by those who do not genuinely understand or respect them. The quote suggests that such misrepresentation not only strips away the authenticity of one's beliefs but also leaves a sense of betrayal by those who might exploit them for personal gain.
Themes
BeliefsMisrepresentationAuthenticityMental DistressCharlatan
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of staying true to oneself, this quote perfectly encapsulates the idea of integrity.
More from George Eliot
All quotes βYou 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 β 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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Worth seeing, yes; but not worth going to see.
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In fact every belief is an obstacle. It does not even require your realization, since you are already who you are. But without realization, who you are does not shine forth into this world. It remains in the unmanifested which is, of course, your true home. You are then like an apparently poor person who does not know he has a bank account with $100 million in it and so his wealth remains an unexpressed potential
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