George Eliot

"Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead."

"The source of true gentleness is strength."

"If there is no transformation of humanity, there is no future."

"To love is to choose."

"The most important work we ever do is the work we do on ourselves."

"Imagination is our one avenue to the transcendent."

"The supreme trial of the conscience is a question of duty against love."

"A woman, let her be as good as she may, has not often a reliable courage to her goodness."

"I have nothing to ask but that you should not mistake the causes of the sorrow you will feel."

"The best moments in life are when we are in full consciousness of being alive."

"How much better to be a known wanderer than to sit in a corner where nobody knows you."

"We are all born in moral stupidity."

"The troubles of a man's youth become his companions in manhood."

"Motherhood is the privilege of science."

"Every human being has some hidden craving for some great prize they might win."

"The best way to learn about life is to observe it carefully."

"I have never been able to endure the company of anyone who said 'Never.'"

"You cannot have a proud and chivalrous spirit if your conduct is mean and paltry."

"The world is full of signs, but I have eyes to see only what I wish."

"Men must have character before they can have knowledge."

"To accept the laws of nature is the greatest and only possible wisdom."

"The happiness of men depends upon wisdom and virtue."

"I believe it would be better to keep literature out of criticism and criticism out of literature."

"The very nature of existence is composed of complexity."

"A man is not justified in using force upon his wife."

"The greatest evil would be to stop trying."

"One must learn to read as a native of the text."

"We are all of us born in moral ignorance."

"Only the very fortunate will know happiness."

"I have felt that to nothing can I so well express what I want as to that thing."