Quotation added by staff

Why not add this quote to your bookmarks?

  ...of words: instead of being astonished at his inspirations in private, he might have clad his addled originalities, disjointed commonplaces, blind denials, and balloon-like conclusions, in that mighty sort of language which would have made a new Koran for a knot of followers. I mean no disrespect to the ancient Koran, but one would not desire the roc to lay more eggs and give us a whole wing-flapping brood to soar and make twilight.
Peace be with Lentulus, for he has left us in peace. Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving us wordy evidence of the fact.   -from calling on us to look through a heap of millet-seed in order to be sure that there is no pearl in it.

V.
A TOO DEFERENTIAL MAN.
A little unpremeditated insincerity must be indulged under the stress of social intercourse. The talk even of an honest man must often represent merely his wish to be inoffensive or agreeable rather than his genuine opinion or feeling on the matter in hand. His thought, if uttered, might be wounding; or he has not the ability to utter it with...   Eliot, George

Source: GEORGE ELIOT, Impressions of Theophrastus Such, chapter 4, p. 51 . First published in 1879. · Excerpt from Impressions of Theophrastus Such · This quote is about facts · Search on Google Books to find all references and sources for this quotation.

• Biography
• 3 Fans
• This quote in blogs