Go forward with joyful confidence.
George EliotRead
The most solid comfort one can fall back upon is the thought that the business of one's life is to help in some small way to reduce the sum of ignorance, degradation and misery on the face of this beautiful earth.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of contributing positively to the world and alleviating suffering.
George Eliot suggests that true solace comes from the understanding that our purpose in life can involve making a difference by reducing ignorance and suffering in the world. It highlights the beauty of life and the duty we have to improve it for others, reminding us that even small contributions can have a significant impact.
Themes
ComfortHelpReduceIgnoranceSufferingEarth
In practice
Example use cases
A motivational speech about community service could incorporate this quote.
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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