--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: but very little achievement is required…" description: "\"but very little achievement is required in order to pity another man's shortcomings.\" — George Eliot" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5c/george-eliot-84_achievement_but-very-little-achievement-is-required_120190.png" --- # but very little achievement is required in order to pity… ![“but very little achievement is required in order to pity another man's shortcomings.” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5c/george-eliot-84_achievement_but-very-little-achievement-is-required_120190.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5c/george-eliot-84_achievement_but-very-little-achievement-is-required_120190.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5c/george-eliot-84_achievement_but-very-little-achievement-is-required_120190.png) > “but very little achievement is required in order to pity another man's shortcomings.” [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. He suggests that feeling pity for others' failings is a low‑effort moral stance, implying a need for deeper empathy. **In simple terms:** Pity is an easy, shallow response. Key Takeaway True empathy requires effort beyond pity. Themes empathy morality human behavior Mood thoughtful critical Type ethical observation philosophical quote When to use this quote - comforting a grieving friend - responding to a colleague’s mistake - volunteering with marginalized groups Key Concepts ethical depth compassion Practical Applications - practicing active listening - cultivating genuine compassion Questions to Reflect On - What distinguishes pity from empathy? - How can we move from feeling pity to taking constructive action? A Different Perspective Pity can motivate helpful action if coupled with responsibility. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Achievement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/achievement/) [Human behavior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-behavior/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Pity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pity/) [Shortcomings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shortcomings/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) ## Related quotes > [A man's shortcomings are taken from his epoch; his virtues and greatness belong to himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/a-man-s-shortcomings-are-taken-from-his-epoch-his-virtues-and/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Man's shortcomings and sins are all due to the substance of the body and not to its form; while all his merits are exclusively…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maimonides/man-s-shortcomings-and-sins-are-all-due-to-the-substance-of-the-body/) [Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) > [The science of psychology has been far more successful on the negative than on the positive side... It has revealed to us much about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-maslow/the-science-of-psychology-has-been-far-more-successful-on-the-2/) [Abraham Maslow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-maslow/) > [I pity the man who can travel from Dan to Beersheba, and cry, 'Tis all barren--and so it is; and so is all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/i-pity-the-man-who-can-travel-from-dan-to-beersheba-and-cry-tis-all/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [I don't pity any man who does hard work worth doing. I admire him. I pity the creature who does not work, at whichever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/i-don-t-pity-any-man-who-does-hard-work-worth-doing-i-admire-him-i/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [It is noble to pity a man who is cruel because he is weak, but it is idiotic and dangerous to allow him to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-horsley/it-is-noble-to-pity-a-man-who-is-cruel-because-he-is-weak-but-it-is/) [Kate Horsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-horsley/) > [Pity the man who has a favorite restaurant, but not a favorite author.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/pity-the-man-who-has-a-favorite-restaurant-but-not-a-favorite-author/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [God pity the man of science who believes in nothing but what he can prove by scientific methods; for if ever a human being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/god-pity-the-man-of-science-who-believes-in-nothing-but-what-he-can/) [J. 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The knot in his throat had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tessa-bailey/daniel-had-one-more-question-he-hated-asking-it-but-her-answer-would/) [Tessa Bailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tessa-bailey/) ## 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 Achievement quotes > [You, of Canada, are building a magnificent record of achievement. My country rejoices in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/you-of-canada-are-building-a-magnificent-record-of-achievement-my/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [“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/) > [One achieves true human dignity only when one serves. Only he is great who subjects himself to taking part in the achievement of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-antonio-primo-de-rivera/one-achieves-true-human-dignity-only-when-one-serves-only-he-is-great/) Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera > [Needs cause motivation. Deep-rooted desires for esteem, affection, belonging, achievement, self-actualization, power, and control motivate us to push for what we want and need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorii-myers/needs-cause-motivation-deep-rooted-desires-for-esteem-affection/) [Lorii Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorii-myers/) > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [It's tragic what America has become because there is a great segment of society that now resents luxury and success and achievement by others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-leach/it-s-tragic-what-america-has-become-because-there-is-a-great-segment/) [Robin Leach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-leach/) > [To preserve an unclouded capacity for the enjoyment of life is an unusual moral and psychological achievement. Contrary to popular belief, it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-branden/to-preserve-an-unclouded-capacity-for-the-enjoyment-of-life-is-an/) [Nathaniel Branden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-branden/) > [Joel Lane documents a life we don’t quite live, in a city we can’t quite find: half glimpsed and half imagined, we know it’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaz-brenchley/joel-lane-documents-a-life-we-don-t-quite-live-in-a-city-we-can-t/) Chaz Brenchley > [The main substantive achievement of neoliberalism has been to redistribute rather than to generate wealth and income.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/the-main-substantive-achievement-of-neoliberalism-has-been-to/) [David Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harvey/) > [Every profession has an ideology and a drive for power that goes far beyond its achievements and it is the task of democracy to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/every-profession-has-an-ideology-and-a-drive-for-power-that-goes-far/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [We have Internet now and people are not stupid. 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