There are many victories worse than a defeat. – George Eliot
We must not inquire too curiously into motives… They are apt to become feeble in the utterance: the aroma is mixed with the grosser air. We must keep the germinating grain away from the light. – George Eliot
It is possible to have a strong self-love without any self-satisfaction, rather with a self-discontent which is the more intense because ones own little core of egoistic sensibility is a supreme care. – George Eliot
I desire no future that will break the ties with the past. – George Eliot
The universal human laws – need, love for the beloved, fear, hunger, periodic exaltation, the kindness that rises up naturally in the absence of hunger/fear/pain – are constant, predictable, reliable, universal, and are merely ornamented with the details of local culture. – George Saunders