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Our life is determined for us — and it makes the mind very free when we give up wishing and only think of bearing what is laid upon us and doing what is given us to do.

— George Eliot The Mill on the Floss (1860)

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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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To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead.

Bertrand Russell Marriage and Morals (1929)

Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.

William James The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy (1897)

Reason is Life's sole arbiter, the magic Laby'rinth's single clue:
Worlds lie above, beyond its ken; what crosses it can ne'er be true.

Richard Francis Burton The Kasîdah of Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî (1870)

It is the law of life that if you are kind to someone you feel happy. If you are cruel you are unhappy. And if you hurt someone, you will be hurt back.

Cary Grant Love – That’s All Cary Grant Ever Thinks About (1964)

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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.