--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As to people saying a few idle words…" description: "\"As to people saying a few idle words about us, we must not mind that, any more than the old church steeple minds the rooks cawing about it.\" — George E..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f93/george-eliot-84_church_as-to-people-saying-a-few-idle-words-abo_1209374.png" --- # As to people saying a few idle words about us, we must not… ![“As to people saying a few idle words about us, we must not mind that, any more than the old church steeple minds the rooks cawing about it.” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f93/george-eliot-84_church_as-to-people-saying-a-few-idle-words-abo_1209374.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f93/george-eliot-84_church_as-to-people-saying-a-few-idle-words-abo_1209374.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f93/george-eliot-84_church_as-to-people-saying-a-few-idle-words-abo_1209374.png) > “As to people saying a few idle words about us, we must not mind that, any more than the old church steeple minds the rooks cawing about it.” [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ignore trivial gossip; it’s as irrelevant as a church steeple caring about rooks. **In simple terms:** Don’t let idle remarks affect you. Key Takeaway Focus on your own path. Themes self‑esteem resilience social perception Mood calm determined Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - workplace gossip - online comments - family criticism - public scrutiny Key Concepts Stoicism mindfulness Questions to Reflect On - How do you distinguish useful feedback from idle chatter? - What strategies keep you grounded? A Different Perspective Even minor criticism can erode confidence if internalized. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/church/) [Gossip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gossip/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Old churches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-churches/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [First I gave up action. Then idle words, and lastly thought itself. Now I am here.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/first-i-gave-up-action-then-idle-words-and-lastly-thought-itself-now/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“After seeing how many people waste their lives, their whole lives (tongues wagging, wagging, wagging, and all the inevitable consequences), silence seems preferable to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josemaria-escriva/after-seeing-how-many-people-waste-their-lives-their-whole-lives/) [Josemaría Escrivá](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josemaria-escriva/) > [Sick I am of idle words, past all reconciling, Words that weary and perplex and pander and conceal, Wake the sounds that cannot lie,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-du-maurier/sick-i-am-of-idle-words-past-all-reconciling-words-that-weary-and/) [George du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-du-maurier/) > [“The kiss, dear maid ! thy lip has left Shall never part from mine, Till happier hours restore the gift Untainted back to thine.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/the-kiss-dear-maid-thy-lip-has-left-shall-never-part-from-mine-till/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [My visual landscape as a child was the inside of a lot of these old churches. And the Baroque drama of the things was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-welch/my-visual-landscape-as-a-child-was-the-inside-of-a-lot-of-these-old/) [Florence Welch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-welch/) > [Old churches must not simply stand as monuments to the past but as spiritual grandparents that have invested in the future by passing on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-gibbs/old-churches-must-not-simply-stand-as-monuments-to-the-past-but-as/) [Eddie Gibbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-gibbs/) > [The cold hoarfrost glistened on the tombstones, and sparkled like rows of gems, among the stone carvings of the old church. The snow lay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-cold-hoarfrost-glistened-on-the-tombstones-and-sparkled-like-rows/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [The haggard aspect of the little old man was wonderfully suited to the place; he might have groped among old churches and tombs and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-haggard-aspect-of-the-little-old-man-was-wonderfully-suited-to/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [ The BBC is a perfect example of uncontrolled growth, \[occupying\] old churches and manor houses, the old Langham Hotel where Sherlock Holmes once met… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morley-safer/the-bbc-is-a-perfect-example-of-uncontrolled-growth-occupying-old/) [Morley Safer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morley-safer/) > [Take what the old-church found in Mithra's tomb, candle and script and bell, take what the new-church spat upon and broke and shattered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/take-what-the-old-church-found-in-mithra-s-tomb-candle-and-script-and/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [Jesus was not a whisperer. No one ever saw Him close to His neighbor's ear, looking stealthily around lest some one should overhear what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-logan-brengle/jesus-was-not-a-whisperer-no-one-ever-saw-him-close-to-his-neighbor-s/) [Samuel Logan Brengle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-logan-brengle/) > [I'm more inclined towards old churches and dusty museums.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunny-ozell/i-m-more-inclined-towards-old-churches-and-dusty-museums/) [Sunny Ozell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunny-ozell/) > [Suddenly, in the space of a moment, I realized what it was that I loved about Britain--which is to say, all of it. Every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/suddenly-in-the-space-of-a-moment-i-realized-what-it-was-that-i-loved/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [A landscape, torn by mists and clouds, in which I can see ruins of old churches, as well as of Greek temples - that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edvard-grieg/a-landscape-torn-by-mists-and-clouds-in-which-i-can-see-ruins-of-old/) [Edvard Grieg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edvard-grieg/) > [“In the grounds of the château was a church said to date from the year 1000, and he went to look at it, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-follett/in-the-grounds-of-the-ch-teau-was-a-church-said-to-date-from-the-year/) [Ken Follett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-follett/) ## More by George Eliot > [There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-are-various-orders-of-beauty-causing-men-to-make-fools-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-the-effect-of-her-being-on-those-around-her-was-incalculably/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Scepticismcan never be thoroughly applied, else life would come to a standstill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/scepticismcan-never-be-thoroughly-applied-else-life-would-come-to-a/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Under every guilty secret there is hidden a brood of guilty wishes, whose unwholesome infecting life is cherished by the darkness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/under-every-guilty-secret-there-is-hidden-a-brood-of-guilty-wishes/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [The most powerful movement of feeling with a liturgy is the prayer which seeks for nothing special, but is a yearning to escape from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/the-most-powerful-movement-of-feeling-with-a-liturgy-is-the-prayer/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [ “\[W\]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… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/w-e-must-learn-to-accommodate-ourselves-to-the-discovery-that-some-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Mr. Casaubon had never had a strong bodily frame, and his soul was sensitive without being enthusiastic: it was too languid to thrill out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/mr-casaubon-had-never-had-a-strong-bodily-frame-and-his-soul-was/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“... she took her husband's jokes and joviality as patiently as everything else, considering that "men would be so", and viewing the stronger sex…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/she-took-her-husband-s-jokes-and-joviality-as-patiently-as-everything/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [What is opportunity to the man who can't use it? An unfecundated egg, which the waves of time wash away into nonentity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/what-is-opportunity-to-the-man-who-can-t-use-it-an-unfecundated-egg/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [And, of course men know best about everything, except what women know better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/and-of-course-men-know-best-about-everything-except-what-women-know/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“But let the wise be warned against too great readiness at explanation: it multiplies the sources of mistake, lengthening the sum for reckoners sure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-let-the-wise-be-warned-against-too-great-readiness-at-explanation/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“But any one watching keenly the stealthy convergence of human lots, sees a slow preparation of effects from one life on another, which tells…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-any-one-watching-keenly-the-stealthy-convergence-of-human-lots/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Perspective, as its inventor remarked, is a beautiful thing. What horrors of damp huts, where human beings languish, may not become picturesque through aerial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/perspective-as-its-inventor-remarked-is-a-beautiful-thing-what/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Sane people did what their neighbours did, so that if any lunatics were at large, one might know and avoid them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/sane-people-did-what-their-neighbours-did-so-that-if-any-lunatics/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [even those who call themselves 'intimate' know very little about each other - hardly ever know just how a sorrow is felt, and hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/even-those-who-call-themselves-intimate-know-very-little-about-each/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) [Explore all 1,492 George Eliot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) ## More Church quotes > [While the 1963 Birmingham church bombing is the most historic, there also was a series of church burnings in the 1990s. Recognition of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthea-butler/while-the-1963-birmingham-church-bombing-is-the-most-historic-there/) [Anthea Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthea-butler/) > [If I had my brothers I think with just a little bit of the correct marketing, I'd like to be almost exclusively in small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-bozzio/if-i-had-my-brothers-i-think-with-just-a-little-bit-of-the-correct/) [Terry Bozzio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-bozzio/) > [Turn over the pages of history and read the damning record of the church's opposition to every advance in every field of science. . . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/turn-over-the-pages-of-history-and-read-the-damning-record-of-the/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Jeff Chu's pilgrimage across America to discover his own place as a gay man in the Christian church as well as attitudes about being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-freitas/jeff-chu-s-pilgrimage-across-america-to-discover-his-own-place-as-a/) [Donna Freitas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-freitas/) > [God is not calling us to go to church; he is calling us to be his church, the hope of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-groeschel/god-is-not-calling-us-to-go-to-church-he-is-calling-us-to-be-his/) [Craig Groeschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-groeschel/) > [The emerging church movement has come to believe that the ultimate context of the spiritual aspirations of a follower of Jesus Christ is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samir-selmanovic/the-emerging-church-movement-has-come-to-believe-that-the-ultimate/) [Samir Selmanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samir-selmanovic/) > [ T\]he church is not a place. It's not a building. It's not a preaching point. It's not a spiritual service provider. It's a people… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-dever/t-he-church-is-not-a-place-it-s-not-a-building-it-s-not-a-preaching/) [Mark Dever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-dever/) > [There could be no more powerful argument against mixing religion and government than the success of independent African American churches in placing racial segregation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jacoby/there-could-be-no-more-powerful-argument-against-mixing-religion-and/) [Susan Jacoby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jacoby/) > [Worship is not about personality, temperament, personal limitations, church background, or comfort. It is about God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wimber/worship-is-not-about-personality-temperament-personal-limitations/) [John Wimber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wimber/) > [A beggarly people, A church and no steeple.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/a-beggarly-people-a-church-and-no-steeple/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [Pound St. Paul's Church into atoms, and consider any single atom; it is to be sure, good for nothing; but put all these atoms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/pound-st-paul-s-church-into-atoms-and-consider-any-single-atom-it-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The religion of art, like the religion of politics, was born from the ruins of Christianity. Art inherited from the old religion the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/the-religion-of-art-like-the-religion-of-politics-was-born-from-the/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [The minute you walk outside of your church on Sunday you're in mission territory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-barron/the-minute-you-walk-outside-of-your-church-on-sunday-you-re-in/) [Robert Barron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-barron/) > [I'm not ashamed of the things I believe and why I believe them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-huckabee/i-m-not-ashamed-of-the-things-i-believe-and-why-i-believe-them/) [Mike Huckabee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-huckabee/) [Browse all 9,430 Church quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/church/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "As to people saying a few idle words about us, we must not mind that, any more than the old church steeple minds the rooks cawing about it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Eliot" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/as-to-people-saying-a-few-idle-words-about-us-we-must-not-mind-that/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Church" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/as-to-people-saying-a-few-idle-words-about-us-we-must-not-mind-that/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f93/george-eliot-84_church_as-to-people-saying-a-few-idle-words-abo_1209374.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f93/george-eliot-84_church_as-to-people-saying-a-few-idle-words-abo_1209374.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f93/george-eliot-84_church_as-to-people-saying-a-few-idle-words-abo_1209374.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“As to people saying a few idle words about us, we must not mind that, any more than the old church steeple…” — George Eliot", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "George Eliot", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "As to people saying a few...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/as-to-people-saying-a-few-idle-words-about-us-we-must-not-mind-that/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/as-to-people-saying-a-few-idle-words-about-us-we-must-not-mind-that/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```