Only those who know the supremacy of the intellectual lifeโโthe life which has a seed of ennobling thought and purpose withinโโcan understand the grief of one who falls from that serene activity into the absorbing soul-wasting struggle with worldly annoyances.
George EliotIf you are not proud of your cellar, there is no thrill of satisfaction in seeing your guest hold up his wineglass to the light and look judicial.
George EliotThere is no sorrow I have thought more about than that-to love what is great, and try to reach it, and yet to fail.
George EliotI have no courage to write much unless I am written to. I soon begin to think that there are plenty of other correspondents more interesting - so if you all want to hear from me you know the conditions.
George EliotHe was one of those men, and they are not the commonest, of whom we can know the best only by following them away from the marketplace, the platform, and the pulpit, entering with them into their own homes, hearing the voice with which they speak to the young and aged about their own hearthstone, and witnessing their thoughtful care for the everyday wants of everyday companions, who take all their kindness as a matter of course, and not as a subject for panegyric.
George Eliot