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In old days there were angels who came and took men by the hand and led them away from the city of destruction. We see no white-winged angels now. But yet men are led away from threatening destruction: a hand is put into theirs, which leads them forth gently towards a calm and bright land, so that they look no more backward; and the hand may be a little child's.

— George Eliot Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe (1861)

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More quotes by George Eliot

The blessed work of helping the world forward, happily does not wait to be done by perfect men.

Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving us wordy evidence of the fact.

The happiest women, like the happiest nations, have no history.

The Mill on the Floss (1860)

Every man who is not a monster, a mathematician, or a mad philosopher, is the slave of some woman or other.

Howiver, I'm not denyin' the women are foolish: God Almighty made 'em to match the men.

Adam Bede (1859)

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A generation which ignores history has no past —and no future.

Robert A. Heinlein Time Enough for Love (1973)

From now on, everything in life will appear blurry to me. What’s the point of wiping my glasses when my vision has already left me?"

Sanu Sharma

You can never plan the future by the past.

Edmund Burke A Letter to a Member of the National Assembly (1791)

Nothing is there to come, and nothing past,
But an eternal now does always last.

Abraham Cowley Poems (1656)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: George Eliot (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.