Go forward with joyful confidence.
George EliotRead
Most of us who turn to any subject we love remember some morning or evening hour when we got on a high stool to reach down an untried volume, or sat with parted lips listening to a new talker, or for very lack of books began to listen to the voices within, as the first traceable beginning of our love.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the early moments of discovering a passion for learning through books and conversation.
In this quote, George Eliot emphasizes the significance of those initial encounters with knowledge that spark a love for learning. It suggests that whether through reading an untried book, engaging with a speaker, or reflecting internally, these experiences form the foundation of a lifelong passion for subjects we hold dear. It highlights the idea that our intellectual journeys often begin with curiosity and openness to new ideas.
Themes
EducationLearningPassionBooksCuriosity
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of lifelong learning, you could use this quote to highlight how we often find our passion for knowledge.
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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