Aloof Quote by George Eliot
“There comes a terrible moment to many souls when the great movements of the world, the larger destinies of mankind, which have lain aloof in newspapers and other neglected reading, enter like an earthquake into their own lives--when the slow urgency of growing generations turns into the tread of an invading army or the dire clash of civil war, and grey fathers know nothing to seek for but the corpses of their blooming sons, and girls forget all vanity to make lint and bandages which may serve for the shattered limbs of their betrothed husbands.”
About This Quote
Source Novel: Middlemarch, 1871
When large societal upheavals intrude on personal lives, ordinary people confront loss and suffering.
In simple terms: War and change bring personal tragedy.
Key Takeaway
Prepare for personal impact of historic events.
Themes
war
societal change
family loss
Mood
somber
reflective
Type
literary
philosophical
When to use this quote
- family life
- war zones
- civil unrest
Key Concepts
historical forces
human cost
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you cope with personal loss during crises?
- What responsibilities do societies have to protect families?
A Different Perspective
Individual grief may be overlooked in grand narratives.
![“[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)
![“[Kellyanne Conway]taking [Jennifer] Palmieri to school. You had a lousy candidate, you've got a candidate who's arrogant and aloof and didn't even campaign in states she thought she was gonna be coronated in. She thinks she's better than everybody else.” quote by Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ec1/rush-limbaugh-28_aloof_kellyanne-conway-taking-jennifer-palmier_154592.jpg)
