Devil Quote by George Eliot
““If you could only speak the devil fair enough, he might save you the cost of the doctor. Such strange lingering echoes of the old demon-worship might perhaps even now be caught by the diligent listener among the grey-haired peasantry; for the rude mind with difficulty associates the ideas of power and benignity. A shadowy conception of power that by much persuasion can be induced to refrain from inflicting harm, is the shape most easily taken by the sense of the Invisible in the minds of men who have always been pressed close by primitive wants, and to whom a life of hard toil has never been illuminated by any enthusiastic religious faith. To them pain and mishap present a far wider range of possibilities than gladness and enjoyment: their imagination is almost barren of the images that feed desire and hope, but is all overgrown by recollections that are a perpetual pasture to fear.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: Middlemarch, 1871
Power can be softened by persuasion, but those in hardship often lack hope and are driven by fear.
In simple terms: Hardship breeds fear, limiting hope and power.
Key Takeaway
Cultivate hope to counter fear.
Themes
power
hope
fear
poverty
persuasion
faith
Mood
somber
analytical
Type
critical
philosophical
When to use this quote
- rural communities
- poverty relief
- social reform
- mental health initiatives
Key Concepts
social dynamics
psychology
economic hardship
Questions to Reflect On
- What can restore hope in oppressed communities?
- How does fear shape perceptions of power?
A Different Perspective
Hope can be fragile and may not easily replace entrenched fear.
![“[W]e must learn to accommodate ourselves to the discovery that some of those cunningly-fashioned instruments called human souls have only a very limited range of music, and will not vibrate in the least under a touch that fills others with tremulous rapture or quivering agony.” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/9be/george-eliot-84_agony_w-e-must-learn-to-accommodate-ourselves_12409.jpg)
