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 EliotA man vows, and yet will not east away the means of breaking his vow. Is it that he distinctly means to break it? Not at all; but the desires which tend to break it are at work in him dimly, and make their way into his imagination, and relax his muscles in the very moments when he is telling himself over again the reasons for his vow.
George EliotA fine lady is a squirrel-headed thing, with small airs and small notions; about as applicable to the business of life as a pair of tweezers to the clearing of a forest.
George EliotEducation was almost entirely a matter of luck — usually of ill-luck — in those distant days.
George Eliot