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.
Where these words come from
- 95% sureThese words were traced back to where they first appeared. That source is listed below.
- Adam Bede, chapter X, Dinah Visits Lisbeth (narrator); Complete narrator sentence, including continuation after colon rather than popular shortened form. Chapter opening and surrounding passage read: Lisbeth prepares husband Thias for burial and imagines his consciousness. Literary portrayal of memo
- Adam Bede, chapter X, Dinah Visits Lisbeth (narrator)
More from George Eliot
See allThose who trust us educate us.
George EliotBut what we call our despair is often only the painful eagerness of unfed hope.George EliotIn 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 EliotSuch friendship easily becomes tender: the one spreads strong sheltering wings that delight in spreading, the other gets the warm protection which is also a delight.George EliotO may I join the choir invisible
Of those immortal dead who live again
In minds made better by their presence; live
In pulses stirred to generosity,
In deeds of daring rectitude, in scorn
Of miserable aims that end with self,
In thoughts sublime that pierce the night like stars,
And with their mild persistence urge men’s minds
To vaster issues.George EliotTwo wedded from the portal stept: The bells made happy carolings, The air was soft as fanning wings, White petals on the pathway slept. O pure-eyed bride! O tender pride!George Eliot
George EliotBut what we call our despair is often only the painful eagerness of unfed hope.George EliotIn 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 EliotSuch friendship easily becomes tender: the one spreads strong sheltering wings that delight in spreading, the other gets the warm protection which is also a delight.George EliotO may I join the choir invisible
Of those immortal dead who live again
In minds made better by their presence; live
In pulses stirred to generosity,
In deeds of daring rectitude, in scorn
Of miserable aims that end with self,
In thoughts sublime that pierce the night like stars,
And with their mild persistence urge men’s minds
To vaster issues.George EliotTwo wedded from the portal stept: The bells made happy carolings, The air was soft as fanning wings, White petals on the pathway slept. O pure-eyed bride! O tender pride!George EliotMore inspiration
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Eleanor RooseveltNo one can make you feel inferior without your consent.Eleanor RooseveltLittle strokes fell great oaks.Benjamin FranklinEnergy and persistence conquer all things.Benjamin FranklinWell done is better than well said.Benjamin FranklinIf there is no struggle, there is no progress.Frederick Douglass