George Eliot

I like not only to be loved, but also to be told that I am loved. I am not sure that you are of the same kind. But the realm of silence is large enough beyond the grave. This is the world of light and speech, and I shall take leave to tell you that you are very dear.

Would not love see returning penitence afar off, and fall on its neck and kiss it?

What makes life dreary is the want of a motive.

The beginning of compunction is the beginning of a new life.

Blows are sarcasm’s turned stupid.

Harold, like the rest of us, had many impressions which saved him the trouble of distinct ideas.

It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.

If thou art clean and warm, it is sufficient; for more doth but rob the Poor, and please the Wanton.

If everyone is a product of this society, who will say the things that need to be said, and do the things that need to be done, without compromise?

Solitude is impractical and yet society is fatal.

The man who is ostentatious of his modesty is twin to the statue that wears a fig-leaf.

He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches.

The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us.

The surest poison is time.

Most people have never learned that one of the main aims in life is to enjoy it.

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.

It is lamentable, that to be a good patriot one must become the enemy of the rest of mankind.

Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves – slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future.

The walking of Man is falling forwards.

Fortitude is the marshal of thought, the armor of the will, and the fort of reason.

You who write, choose a subject suited to your abilities and think long and hard on what your powers are equal to and what they are unable to perform.