--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Certainly the determining acts of her…" description: "\"Certainly the determining acts of her life were not ideally beautiful. They were the mixed result of young and novel impulse struggling amidst the cond..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c49/george-eliot-84_aspect_certainly-the-determining-acts-of-her-li_1835392.jpg" --- # Certainly the determining acts of her life were not… ![“Certainly the determining acts of her life were not ideally beautiful. They were the mixed result of young and novel impulse struggling amidst the conditions of an imperfect social state, in which great feelings will often take the aspect of error, and great faith the aspect of illusion.” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c49/george-eliot-84_aspect_certainly-the-determining-acts-of-her-li_1835392.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c49/george-eliot-84_aspect_certainly-the-determining-acts-of-her-li_1835392.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c49/george-eliot-84_aspect_certainly-the-determining-acts-of-her-li_1835392.jpg) > “Certainly the determining acts of her life were not ideally beautiful. They were the mixed result of young and novel impulse struggling amidst the conditions of an imperfect social state, in which great feelings will often take the aspect of error, and great faith the aspect of illusion.” [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. She faced complex, imperfect social conditions that mixed youthful impulse with flawed ideals, leading to both error and illusion in feelings and faith. **In simple terms:** Life’s choices are shaped by social flaws and youthful drives. Key Takeaway Recognize how society and youth shape decisions. Themes society youth imperfection faith illusion Mood reflective melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal growth - social reform - historical analysis Key Concepts social dynamics psychology moral ambiguity Questions to Reflect On - How do social flaws influence personal ambition? - Can youthful impulse be guided constructively? A Different Perspective Idealism may clash with reality, limiting outcomes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/) [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Illusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illusion/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Struggle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggle/) ## Related quotes > [Great feelings will often take the aspect of error, and great faith the aspect of illusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/great-feelings-will-often-take-the-aspect-of-error-and-great-faith/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [All faiths constitute a revelation of Truth, but all are imperfect and liable to error](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/all-faiths-constitute-a-revelation-of-truth-but-all-are-imperfect-and/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I should esteem it the extreme of imprudence to prolong the precarious state of our national affairs, and to expose the Union to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/i-should-esteem-it-the-extreme-of-imprudence-to-prolong-the/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [Trusting people to be creative and constructive when given more freedom does not imply an overly optimistic belief in the perfectibility of human nature.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-senge/trusting-people-to-be-creative-and-constructive-when-given-more/) [Peter Senge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-senge/) > [Do we not all agree to call rapid thought and noble impulse by the name of inspiration? After our subtlest analysis of the mental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/do-we-not-all-agree-to-call-rapid-thought-and-noble-impulse-by-the/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [It is a terrible error to let any natural impulse, physical or mental, stagnate. Crush it out, if you will, and be done with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleister-crowley/it-is-a-terrible-error-to-let-any-natural-impulse-physical-or-mental/) [Aleister Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleister-crowley/) > [Every work of art should give utterance, or indicate, the awful blind strength and the cruelty of the creative impulse, that is why they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-stead/every-work-of-art-should-give-utterance-or-indicate-the-awful-blind/) [Christina Stead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-stead/) > [We proceed by doubt, by trial and error, by resisting the impulse to lunge after certainty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-deresiewicz/we-proceed-by-doubt-by-trial-and-error-by-resisting-the-impulse-to/) [William Deresiewicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-deresiewicz/) > [With memory set smarting like a reopened wound, a man's past is not simply a dead history, an outworn preparation of the present: it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/with-memory-set-smarting-like-a-reopened-wound-a-man-s-past-is-not/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Laugh at every mistakes and realize that no one is perfect. 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Judge it by Jesus Christ.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-smith/look-don-t-judge-christianity-by-the-imperfect-examples-that-we-have/) [Chuck Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-smith/) > [The process of putting intangible thoughts into an imperfect system of notation - which is difficult enough, depending on your ideas - acquaints you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-andre-hamelin/the-process-of-putting-intangible-thoughts-into-an-imperfect-system/) [Marc-Andre Hamelin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-andre-hamelin/) > [I'm an imperfect messenger, but the message is perfect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-paul/i-m-an-imperfect-messenger-but-the-message-is-perfect/) [Ron Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-paul/) > [the most terribly human moments - the ones we want to pretend never happened - are the very moments that make us who we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-lawson/the-most-terribly-human-moments-the-ones-we-want-to-pretend-never/) [Jenny Lawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-lawson/) > [You know why you're not perfect? You do everything perfectly and you think you are perfect, but the mere fact that you think about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-know-why-you-re-not-perfect-you-do-everything-perfectly-and-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## 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 Aspect quotes > [Why is wisdom so fair? Why is beauty so wise? Because all else is temporary, while beauty and wisdom are the only real and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/why-is-wisdom-so-fair-why-is-beauty-so-wise-because-all-else-is/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [It is according to the shapes that I lay the plans for victory, but the multitude does not comprehend this. Although everyone can see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/it-is-according-to-the-shapes-that-i-lay-the-plans-for-victory-but/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [I believe that simple, consistent shifts in our thinking and actions can lead to the miraculous in all aspects of our daily lives, including…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-bernstein/i-believe-that-simple-consistent-shifts-in-our-thinking-and-actions/) [Gabrielle Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-bernstein/) > [There is so much temptation to hold on to my career even more now. To try to micromanage and dictate every little aspect. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-lin/there-is-so-much-temptation-to-hold-on-to-my-career-even-more-now-to/) [Jeremy Lin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-lin/) > [I do miss the social aspect of sitting in a pub with a pint but you know what when I get down to it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ozzy-osbourne/i-do-miss-the-social-aspect-of-sitting-in-a-pub-with-a-pint-but-you/) [Ozzy Osbourne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ozzy-osbourne/) > [Some say that you should not want money at all because the desire for money is materialistic and not Spiritual. 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There have been many famous ballet stars who did not have the ideal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-bujones/one-can-be-a-great-artist-without-being-a-great-technician-there-have/) Fernando Bujones > [I love fall because I love the whole cuddling aspect of it, and a sweater dress has that vibe of I'm going to hunker…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-chastain/i-love-fall-because-i-love-the-whole-cuddling-aspect-of-it-and-a/) [Jessica Chastain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-chastain/) > [The socially redeeming aspect of golf lies in the vast number of lawyers and bankers and managers who play it, and when you think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/the-socially-redeeming-aspect-of-golf-lies-in-the-vast-number-of/) [Garrison Keillor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-keillor/) > [I didnt like the Survivor shows because of the mean-spirited aspect, and women certainly were part of whatever conflict they would create.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-lawrence/i-didnt-like-the-survivor-shows-because-of-the-mean-spirited-aspect/) [Sharon Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-lawrence/) > [MAC allowed me to have complete freedom on the collaborations—from the shades, the look-and-feel, to the campaign visuals. 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