George Eliot

Character is destiny.

An election is coming. Universal peace is declared, and the foxes have a sincere interest in prolonging the lives of the poultry.

Many Theresas have been born who found for themselves no epic life wherein there was a constant unfolding.

The greatest meliorator of the world is selfish, huckstering trade.

In the midst of all this, I hope you will not think me too egotistical if I mention that I am getting on with my book.

I have the conviction that a lot of knowledge, though it may be ever so true and useful in itself, will be a hindrance to me.

The fullest life is that which is most varied.

More links, said the spider to the fly.

Debasing the moral currency is a sure way of gaining a reputation for cleverness.

A form of affection which is at once a joy and a trouble is the great blessing of human life.

The sense of security more frequently springs from habit than from any intellectual conviction.

To act with enthusiasm and faith is the most healthy, purifying, and exalted state of a moral being.

There is a great deal of unmapped country within us which would have to be taken into account in an explanation of our gusts and storms.

The most effective way of hurting one's self is to hate and despise one's self.

I like not only to be loved, but also to be told I am loved.

The golden rule is, to help to work out the best results by contributing our own highest qualities to our common stock.

It is an old story, yet it is always new, and it has never been told too often.

The only effectual marriage is that which begins before birth.

Vanity is as ill at ease under indifference as tenderness is under a love which it cannot return.

A human life, I think, should take place in a vast country, with a wide sky above it.