--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Attempts at description are stupid. Who…" description: "\"“Attempts at description are stupid. Who can all at once describe a human being? Even when he is presented to us we only begin that knowledge of his ap..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c1/george-eliot-84_humanity_attempts-at-description-are-stupid-who-c_596724.jpg" --- # Attempts at description are stupid. Who can all at once… ![“Attempts at description are stupid. Who can all at once describe a human being? Even when he is presented to us we only begin that knowledge of his appearance which must be completed by innumerable impressions under differing circumstances.” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c1/george-eliot-84_humanity_attempts-at-description-are-stupid-who-c_596724.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c1/george-eliot-84_humanity_attempts-at-description-are-stupid-who-c_596724.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c1/george-eliot-84_humanity_attempts-at-description-are-stupid-who-c_596724.jpg) > ““Attempts at description are stupid. Who can all at once describe a human being? Even when he is presented to us we only begin that knowledge of his appearance which must be completed by innumerable impressions under differing circumstances.”” [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. Human identity cannot be fully captured; understanding requires many perspectives and contexts. **In simple terms:** One view never defines a person. Key Takeaway Seek multiple perspectives to know others. Themes identity perception complexity Mood thoughtful introspective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - counseling - team building - cross‑cultural communication Key Concepts philosophy psychology social theory Questions to Reflect On - What impressions shape your view of someone? - How do you handle conflicting impressions? A Different Perspective Complexity can overwhelm decision‑making. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Description Stupid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/description-stupid-4872644/) [Human Presented](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-presented-4872643/) [Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) [Impressions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impressions/) [Impressions Differing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impressions-differing-4872645/) [Knowledge Appearance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge-appearance-4872646/) ## Related quotes > [Harold, like the rest of us, had many impressions which saved him the trouble of distinct ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/harold-like-the-rest-of-us-had-many-impressions-which-saved-him-the/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [It is well known to all experienced minds that our firmest convictions are often dependent on subtle impressions for which words are quite too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/it-is-well-known-to-all-experienced-minds-that-our-firmest/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Nothing is really typical of my efforts... I'm simply casting about for better ways to crystallise and capture certain strong impressions (involving the elements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/nothing-is-really-typical-of-my-efforts-i-m-simply-casting-about-for/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [I've always been a performer. I love doing impressions of people and being the clown.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-rigby/i-ve-always-been-a-performer-i-love-doing-impressions-of-people-and/) [Emma Rigby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-rigby/) > [Some simple words we tell have lasting impressions on them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tallent-jnr-chingwah-iii/some-simple-words-we-tell-have-lasting-impressions-on-them/) [Tallent Jnr Chingwah III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tallent-jnr-chingwah-iii/) > [“First impressions are rarely worth preserving. Men typically fall short of our expectations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renate-linnenkoper/first-impressions-are-rarely-worth-preserving-men-typically-fall/) [Renate Linnenkoper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renate-linnenkoper/) > [“We are each a work in progress—special and unique. By learning and living the “Art of First Impressions,” you can design a masterpiece of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/we-are-each-a-work-in-progress-special-and-unique-by-learning-and/) [Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) > [Everybody searches for a chance to impress other. But they don't understands, That impressions are made by very casual happening...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pacifiersucker/everybody-searches-for-a-chance-to-impress-other-but-they-don-t/) [Pacifiersucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pacifiersucker/) > [“The earliest impressions are pictographic in form - little pictures that are the stylized versions of the things they represent. And most things they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-godsen/the-earliest-impressions-are-pictographic-in-form-little-pictures/) [Chris Godsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-godsen/) > [What we have to do is to be forever curiously testing new opinions and courting new impressions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/what-we-have-to-do-is-to-be-forever-curiously-testing-new-opinions/) [Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/) > [“Good first impressions…are good for business.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cs-edit/good-first-impressions-are-good-for-business/) [CS-Edit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cs-edit/) > [“Imagination is a holy impressions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/imagination-is-a-holy-impressions/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [History never exactly repeats itself, but it does some rather good impressions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dean/history-never-exactly-repeats-itself-but-it-does-some-rather-good/) [John Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dean/) > [I don't do impressions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-rickles/i-don-t-do-impressions/) [Don Rickles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-rickles/) > [First impressions are often the truest, as we find (not infrequently) to our cost, when we have been wheedled out of them by plausible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/first-impressions-are-often-the-truest-as-we-find-not-infrequently-to/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) ## 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 Humanity quotes > [Scrabble - The game is available in Braille. That’s a nice fact. This makes me feel better about humanity for some reason. I can’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/scrabble-the-game-is-available-in-braille-that-s-a-nice-fact-this/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-truth-is-of-course-that-the-curtness-of-the-ten-commandments-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Half the misery of human life might be extinguished if men would alleviate the general curse they lie under by mutual offices of compassion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/half-the-misery-of-human-life-might-be-extinguished-if-men-would/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [“Is it necessary to recall that the earth is not infinite, and that our civilization is close to having invaded all of it? The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-tarde/is-it-necessary-to-recall-that-the-earth-is-not-infinite-and-that-our/) [Gabriel Tarde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-tarde/) > [“If attempting to make the world a civilized one, makes you a bad woman in the eyes of the dumb patriarchal society, then, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/if-attempting-to-make-the-world-a-civilized-one-makes-you-a-bad-woman/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [“Once the switch of parenthood is thrown, it changes you for ever & you can never escape the extra pull of humanity it gives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hammond/once-the-switch-of-parenthood-is-thrown-it-changes-you-for-ever-you/) [Richard hammond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hammond/) > [“The power of imagination is strongest in the place of solitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/the-power-of-imagination-is-strongest-in-the-place-of-solitude/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [“Is there any holy beings like human beings?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/is-there-any-holy-beings-like-human-beings/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“I now know that deep within the human concept is something dark, selfish, and completely willing to do whatever is necessary to support the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-west/i-now-know-that-deep-within-the-human-concept-is-something-dark/) [Melissa West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-west/) > [The concept of humanity is an especially useful ideological instrument of imperialist expansion, and in its ethical-humanitarian form it is a specific vehicle of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schmitt/the-concept-of-humanity-is-an-especially-useful-ideological/) [Carl Schmitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schmitt/) > [“He grew away from old associations, and saw something new in life and humanity. Secondarily, he made close acquaintance with phenomena which he had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/he-grew-away-from-old-associations-and-saw-something-new-in-life-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [What is accurately portrayed is the rich humanity not just of Martin Luther King but of the movement, which was a multiracial movement. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/what-is-accurately-portrayed-is-the-rich-humanity-not-just-of-martin/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [He is not humanity deified. He is not Godhead humanized. He is God. He is man. He is all that God is, and all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/he-is-not-humanity-deified-he-is-not-godhead-humanized-he-is-god-he/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-must-not-lose-faith-in-humanity-humanity-is-like-an-ocean-if-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 9,796 Humanity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Attempts at description are stupid. Who can all at once describe a human being? 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