--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If I could only fancy myself clever, it…" description: "\"If I could only fancy myself clever, it would be better, but to be a failure of Nature and to know it is not a comfortable lot. It is the last lesson o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd1/george-eliot-84_clever_if-i-could-only-fancy-myself-clever-it-w_2362489.png" --- # If I could only fancy myself clever, it would be better… ![“If I could only fancy myself clever, it would be better, but to be a failure of Nature and to know it is not a comfortable lot. It is the last lesson one learns, to be contented with one's inferiority -- but it must be learned.” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd1/george-eliot-84_clever_if-i-could-only-fancy-myself-clever-it-w_2362489.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd1/george-eliot-84_clever_if-i-could-only-fancy-myself-clever-it-w_2362489.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd1/george-eliot-84_clever_if-i-could-only-fancy-myself-clever-it-w_2362489.png) > “If I could only fancy myself clever, it would be better, but to be a failure of Nature and to know it is not a comfortable lot. It is the last lesson one learns, to be contented with one's inferiority -- but it must be learned.” [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. Accepting one's limitations leads to peace, though it is a hard lesson to learn. **In simple terms:** Accept limits for inner peace. Key Takeaway Embrace humility and find contentment. Themes humility acceptance self‑knowledge Mood melancholic thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - career setbacks - personal growth - mental health Key Concepts Existential reflection psychology Questions to Reflect On - What limits are you resisting? - How can you turn acceptance into growth? A Different Perspective Denial of limits can stunt improvement. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Clever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clever/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Inferiority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inferiority/) [Lessons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lessons/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) ## Related quotes > [Your style is who you are when you’re not trying to be clever or better than you actually are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-currin/your-style-is-who-you-are-when-you-re-not-trying-to-be-clever-or/) [John Currin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-currin/) > [Nature never hurries: atom by atom, little by little, she achieves her work. The lesson one learns from yachting or planting is the manners…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/nature-never-hurries-atom-by-atom-little-by-little-she-achieves-her/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“A man who is told learns with his head; a man who experiences the lesson learns with”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-l-rubart/a-man-who-is-told-learns-with-his-head-a-man-who-experiences-the/) [James L. Rubart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-l-rubart/) > [“Perhaps the most valuable result of all education,” it was said by Professor Huxley, “is the ability to make yourself do the thing you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/perhaps-the-most-valuable-result-of-all-education-it-was-said-by/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/perhaps-the-most-valuable-result-of-all-education-is-the-ability-to-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/it-is-better-to-be-a-failure-at-something-you-love-than-to-be-a/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > [Its better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hat!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-burns/its-better-to-be-a-failure-at-something-you-love-than-to-be-a-success/) [George Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-burns/) > [Better to be the failure who nobly strived than the success who never really had to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-sanderson/better-to-be-the-failure-who-nobly-strived-than-the-success-who-never/) [Brandon Sanderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-sanderson/) > [Sometimes you learn more from failure than you do from success, and in some ways it's better to have failure at the beginning of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-crawford/sometimes-you-learn-more-from-failure-than-you-do-from-success-and-in/) [Michael Crawford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-crawford/) > [Success is better than failure; an attempt is a better attempt, it is better as an attempt, if competent than if incompetent; and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/success-is-better-than-failure-an-attempt-is-a-better-attempt-it-is/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [Its better to be a failure at something you love than to succeed at doing something you hate. Dont let someone who gave up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nalinli/its-better-to-be-a-failure-at-something-you-love-than-to-succeed-at/) [Nalinli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nalinli/) > [I honestly think it is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-burns/i-honestly-think-it-is-better-to-be-a-failure-at-something-you-love/) [George Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-burns/) > [Go on in the certain way, and if you do not receive that thing, you will receive something so much better that you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-d-wattles/go-on-in-the-certain-way-and-if-you-do-not-receive-that-thing-you/) [Wallace D. Wattles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-d-wattles/) > [“To become a better you, do not see the failure of your first attempts and declare yourself a loser.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/to-become-a-better-you-do-not-see-the-failure-of-your-first-attempts/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [Its better to be a failure at something you love than to succeed at doing something you hate. Dont ever let anyone who gave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orebela-gbenga/its-better-to-be-a-failure-at-something-you-love-than-to-succeed-at-2/) [Orebela Gbenga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orebela-gbenga/) ## 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 Clever quotes > [In some circles where very heavy people think they have very heavy brains, words like "charming" and "clever" and "pretty" are all put-downs; all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-warhol/in-some-circles-where-very-heavy-people-think-they-have-very-heavy/) [Andy Warhol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-warhol/) > [You're beautiful, cute, pretty, gorgeous, and fuck.. I ran out of words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghib-clitso/you-re-beautiful-cute-pretty-gorgeous-and-fuck-i-ran-out-of-words/) [Raghib Clitso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghib-clitso/) > [What we shall need is not geniuses, or cynics, or misanthropes, or clever tacticians, but plain, honest, straghtforward men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/what-we-shall-need-is-not-geniuses-or-cynics-or-misanthropes-or/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [“There was once an old but clever donkey, who never liked the sting of any bee, Nor for all the Slung mud, did he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/priyavrat-thareja/there-was-once-an-old-but-clever-donkey-who-never-liked-the-sting-of/) [Priyavrat Thareja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/priyavrat-thareja/) > [ There was another reason \[she\] took her books whenever they went away. They were her home when she was somewhere strange. They were familiar… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/there-was-another-reason-she-took-her-books-whenever-they-went-away/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [“The cactus thrives in the desert while the fern thrives in the wetland. The fool will try to plant them in the same flowerbox.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/the-cactus-thrives-in-the-desert-while-the-fern-thrives-in-the/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [Good people are found not changed. Recently I read a headline that said, 'We don't teach people to be nice. We simply hire nice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/good-people-are-found-not-changed-recently-i-read-a-headline-that/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [If she is stupid enough to let you go, you're clever enough not to look back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-she-is-stupid-enough-to-let-you-go-you-re-clever-enough-not-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Need to go to the pharmacy, because I'm so sick!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tasha-matthews/need-to-go-to-the-pharmacy-because-i-m-so-sick/) Tasha Matthews > [My valour is certainly going! - it is sneaking off! - I feel it oozing out as it were at the palms of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/my-valour-is-certainly-going-it-is-sneaking-off-i-feel-it-oozing-out/) [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/) > ['I Love You' fails to sum up all the memories, smiles, laughs, trials, and tribulations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghib-clitso/i-love-you-fails-to-sum-up-all-the-memories-smiles-laughs-trials-and/) [Raghib Clitso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghib-clitso/) > [People may say that what I do is very clever, but it's not really at all. It's not Swift.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rory-bremner/people-may-say-that-what-i-do-is-very-clever-but-it-s-not-really-at/) [Rory Bremner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rory-bremner/) > [I do remember what I said. The promise. To protect her. If I'd done that ... even if I didn't make it, you wouldn't've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joss-whedon/i-do-remember-what-i-said-the-promise-to-protect-her-if-i-d-done-that/) [Joss Whedon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joss-whedon/) > [“Regrets are like mistresses," he informed her. "I ..." Her hand dropped from the handle. "What?" "Good men don't have them." She blinked at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alissa-johnson/regrets-are-like-mistresses-he-informed-her-i-her-hand-dropped-from/) [Alissa Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alissa-johnson/) > [I love clever lyrics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-hayes/i-love-clever-lyrics/) [Walker Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-hayes/) [Browse all 2,116 Clever quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clever/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If I could only fancy myself clever, it would be better, but to be a failure of Nature and to know it is not a comfortable lot. It is the last lesson one learns, to be contented with one's inferiority -- but it must be learned.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Eliot" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/if-i-could-only-fancy-myself-clever-it-would-be-better-but-to-be-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Clever" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/if-i-could-only-fancy-myself-clever-it-would-be-better-but-to-be-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd1/george-eliot-84_clever_if-i-could-only-fancy-myself-clever-it-w_2362489.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd1/george-eliot-84_clever_if-i-could-only-fancy-myself-clever-it-w_2362489.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd1/george-eliot-84_clever_if-i-could-only-fancy-myself-clever-it-w_2362489.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If I could only fancy myself clever, it would be better, but to be a failure of Nature and to know it is not…” — 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": "If I could only fancy myself...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/if-i-could-only-fancy-myself-clever-it-would-be-better-but-to-be-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/if-i-could-only-fancy-myself-clever-it-would-be-better-but-to-be-a/#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 } } ] } ```