Angry Quote by George Eliot
“There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles... but there is one order of beauty which seems made to turn the heads not only of men, but of all intelligent mammals, even of women. It is a beauty like that of kittens, or very small downy ducks making gentle rippling noises with their soft bills, or babies just beginning to toddle and to engage in conscious mischief -a beauty with which you can never be angry, but that you feel ready to crush for inability to comprehend the state of mind into which it throws you.”
About This Quote
Source Novel: Middlemarch, 1871
A pure, innocent beauty—like kittens or babies—evokes tenderness and a desire to protect, yet can overwhelm those who cannot understand it.
In simple terms: Innocent beauty evokes tenderness
Key Takeaway
Cherish innocence, avoid destructive impulses
Themes
beauty
innocence
empathy
Mood
warm
thoughtful
Type
observational
emotional
When to use this quote
- parenting
- animal care
- art critique
- mental health
Key Concepts
human nature
psychology
emotion
Questions to Reflect On
- What triggers your protective instinct?
- How do you handle overwhelming tenderness?
A Different Perspective
Such beauty can trigger frustration when misunderstood.
![“Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this [step by step, from humans to apes to monkeys to lemurs] - leading us insensibly from the crown and summit of the animal creation down to creatures, from which there is but a step, as it seems, to the…” quote by Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f0b/thomas-huxley-1183_animal_perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us_3051.jpg)
![“[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)
