Go forward with joyful confidence.
George EliotRead
It is very hard to say the exact truth, even about your own immediate feelings – much harder than to say something fine about them which is not the exact truth.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Expressing true feelings can be challenging; often, it is easier to provide an embellished version of those feelings.
This quote by George Eliot emphasizes the complexity and difficulty of articulating our true emotions. It suggests that the nuances of our feelings can be intricate and that there is a tendency to simplify or stylize our experiences in a way that may not fully capture their essence, leading us to communicate in a manner that may contain beauty but lacks authenticity.
Themes
TruthFeelingsCommunicationAuthenticityEmotions
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about mental health, one might quote this to highlight the challenge of expressing true emotions.
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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