Poetry Quote by George Eliot
““Imagination is often truer than fact,” said Gwendolen, decisively, though she could no more have explained these glib words than if they had been Coptic or Etruscan. “I shall be so glad to learn all about Tasso—and his madness especially. I suppose poets are always a little mad.” “To be sure—‘the poet’s eye in a fine frenzy rolling’; and somebody says of Marlowe— ‘For that fine madness still he did maintain, Which always should possess the poet’s brain.’” “But it was not always found out, was it?” said Gwendolen innocently. “I suppose some of them rolled their eyes in private. Mad people are often very cunning.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: Middlemarch, George Eliot, 1871
Imagination can capture truths that factual accounts miss, suggesting creativity reveals deeper reality than strict logic.
In simple terms: Imagination reveals deeper truths than facts.
Key Takeaway
Value creative insight alongside facts.
Themes
imagination
truth
creativity
knowledge
Mood
reflective
inquisitive
Type
literary
philosophical
When to use this quote
- reading literature
- creative writing
- philosophical discussion
- education
- art criticism
Key Concepts
subjectivity
interpretation
poetry
madness
Questions to Reflect On
- When have you trusted imagination over data?
- What role does “madness” play in artistic creation?
A Different Perspective
Fact‑based reasoning may dismiss imaginative perspectives.
![“[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)
