Go forward with joyful confidence.
George EliotRead
I know forgiveness is a man's duty, but, to my thinking, that can only mean as you're to give up all thoughts o' taking revenge: it can never mean as you're t' have your old feelings back again, for that's not possible.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Forgiveness involves letting go of the desire for revenge, but it doesn't restore previous feelings.
In this quote, George Eliot explores the complex nature of forgiveness. She suggests that while it is indeed a moral obligation to forgive others, true forgiveness does not entail returning to an earlier emotional state, nor does it invalidate the hurt caused. Instead, it involves a conscious decision to release any thoughts of retaliation, acknowledging that some feelings cannot be fully regained after being wronged.
Themes
ForgivenessRevengeFeelingsDutyPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about emotional healing, this quote could illustrate the nature of true forgiveness.
More from George Eliot
All quotes →You must love your work, and not be always looking over the edge of it, wanting your play to begin. And the other is, you must not be ashamed of your work, and think it would be more honorable to you to be doing something else. You must have a pride in your own work and in learning to do it well.
George EliotRead
She thought it was part of the hardship of her life that there was laid upon her the burthen of larger wants than others seemed to feel – that she had to endure this wide hopeless yearning for that something, whatever it was, that was greatest and best on this earth.
George EliotRead
Life seems to go on without effort when I am filled with music.
George EliotRead
I think I should have no other mortal wants, if I could always have plenty of music. It seems to infuse strength into my limbs and ideas into my brain. Life seems to go on without effort, when I am filled with music.
George EliotRead
Our dead are never dead to us until we have forgotten them: they can be injured by us, they can be wounded; they know all our penitence, all our aching sense that their place is empty, all the kisses we bestow on the smallest relic of their presence.
George EliotRead
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