--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Men and women make sad mistakes about…" description: "\"Men and women make sad mistakes about their own symptoms, taking their vague uneasy longings, sometimes for genius, sometimes for religion, and oftener..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f3f/george-eliot-84_failure_men-and-women-make-sad-mistakes-about-th_483867.png" --- # Men and women make sad mistakes about their own symptoms… ![“Men and women make sad mistakes about their own symptoms, taking their vague uneasy longings, sometimes for genius, sometimes for religion, and oftener still for a mighty love.” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f3f/george-eliot-84_failure_men-and-women-make-sad-mistakes-about-th_483867.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f3f/george-eliot-84_failure_men-and-women-make-sad-mistakes-about-th_483867.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f3f/george-eliot-84_failure_men-and-women-make-sad-mistakes-about-th_483867.png) > “Men and women make sad mistakes about their own symptoms, taking their vague uneasy longings, sometimes for genius, sometimes for religion, and oftener still for a mighty love.” [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. People misinterpret their inner feelings, mistaking them for genius, religion, or love. **In simple terms:** Misreading personal emotions as grand ideas. Key Takeaway Reflect on true motivations. Themes self‑awareness misinterpretation emotions Mood introspective thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - journaling - therapy - creative writing Key Concepts psychology identity spirituality Questions to Reflect On - What emotions do you label as genius? - How can you differentiate love from longing? A Different Perspective Over‑analysis can obscure genuine insight. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius/) [Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) [Longings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longings/) [Longings Genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longings-genius-4155258/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Men and women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-and-women/) [Mistake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistake/) [Nostalgia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nostalgia/) [Sad Mistakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sad-mistakes-4155257/) [Sometimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sometimes/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) [Symptoms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/symptoms/) [Uneasy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/uneasy/) [Uneasy Longings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/uneasy-longings-4155256/) [Vague](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vague/) ## Related quotes > [Through strife the slumbering soul awakes, We learn on error's troubled route The truths we could not prize without The sorrow of our sad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/through-strife-the-slumbering-soul-awakes-we-learn-on-error-s/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [ “\[She was\] a creature full of eager, passionate longings for all that was beautiful and glad; thirsty for all knowledge; with an ear straining… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/she-was-a-creature-full-of-eager-passionate-longings-for-all-that-was/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“They were very bitter tears: everybody in the world seemed so hard and unkind to Maggie: there was no indulgence, no fondness, such as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/they-were-very-bitter-tears-everybody-in-the-world-seemed-so-hard-and/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Human longings are perversely obstinate; and to the man whose mouth is watering for a peach, it is of no use to offer the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/human-longings-are-perversely-obstinate-and-to-the-man-whose-mouth-is/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Solomon's Proverbs, I think, have omitted to say, that as the sore palate findeth grit, so an uneasy consciousness heareth innuendos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/solomon-s-proverbs-i-think-have-omitted-to-say-that-as-the-sore/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [There is a sort of jealousy which needs very little fire; it is hardly a passion, but a blight bred in the cloudy, damp…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-is-a-sort-of-jealousy-which-needs-very-little-fire-it-is-hardly/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Having made this rather lofty comparison I am less uneasy in calling attention to the existence of low people by whose interference, however little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/having-made-this-rather-lofty-comparison-i-am-less-uneasy-in-calling/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [It is an uneasy lot at best, to be what we call highly taught and yet not to enjoy: to be present at this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/it-is-an-uneasy-lot-at-best-to-be-what-we-call-highly-taught-and-yet-2/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [For my part I am very sorry for him. It is an uneasy lot at best, to be what we call highly taught and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/for-my-part-i-am-very-sorry-for-him-it-is-an-uneasy-lot-at-best-to-be/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“The prevarication and white lies which a mind that keeps itself ambitiously pure is as uneasy under as a great artist under the false…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/the-prevarication-and-white-lies-which-a-mind-that-keeps-itself/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“It is an uneasy lot at best, to be what we call highly taught and yet not to enjoy: to be present at this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/it-is-an-uneasy-lot-at-best-to-be-what-we-call-highly-taught-and-yet/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Trifles cannot satisfy our longings. Sensual pleasures, power over our fellow man, the acquisition of things, these are babbles, toys, trifles. Our spirits yearn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaughn-heppner/trifles-cannot-satisfy-our-longings-sensual-pleasures-power-over-our/) [Vaughn Heppner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaughn-heppner/) > [“This is what we do with books: we put our longings and our questions and our angst onto trading ships and send them out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-darius/this-is-what-we-do-with-books-we-put-our-longings-and-our-questions/) [Julian Darius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-darius/) > [“Out of infinite longings rise finite deeds like weak fountains, falling back just in time and trembling. And yet, what otherwise remains silent, our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/out-of-infinite-longings-rise-finite-deeds-like-weak-fountains/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [Sometimes it has to do with other longings that are much more existential. Sometimes you go elsewhere not because you are not liking the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-perel/sometimes-it-has-to-do-with-other-longings-that-are-much-more/) [Esther Perel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-perel/) ## 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 Failure quotes > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [Failures happen. You can't cry over them. You just take it in your stride because you know that you have done your best... Sometimes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divya-dutta/failures-happen-you-can-t-cry-over-them-you-just-take-it-in-your/) [Divya Dutta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divya-dutta/) > [No one is completely unhappy at the failure of his best friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/no-one-is-completely-unhappy-at-the-failure-of-his-best-friend/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) > [“Rhiannon's Law #28: If you're going to fuck up, be sure to fuck up good and proper. Nothing makes failure acceptable, so you might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/rhiannon-s-law-28-if-you-re-going-to-fuck-up-be-sure-to-fuck-up-good/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Failure is a part of life and you have to learn to deal with it. Failure is something that is part of life's cycle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-powell/failure-is-a-part-of-life-and-you-have-to-learn-to-deal-with-it/) [Colin Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-powell/) > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [First action was a mistake. What about the second? third? fourth and fifth?...Mehn you are bad...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/first-action-was-a-mistake-what-about-the-second-third-fourth-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [God's love never fail :)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-s-love-never-fail/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Don’t you just hate nights like that, when you think over every mistake you’ve made, every hurt you’ve received, every bit of meanness you’ve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlaine-harris/don-t-you-just-hate-nights-like-that-when-you-think-over-every/) [Charlaine Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlaine-harris/) > [“Our failure to understand another being's inner reality doesn't make that reality any less real, or any less valuable to that being. (p.255)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-schulz/our-failure-to-understand-another-being-s-inner-reality-doesn-t-make/) [Kathryn Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-schulz/) > [I hope that the Palestinians don't make the mistake of unleashing a new intifada. They've tried it twice before, and the consequences were bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-segev/i-hope-that-the-palestinians-don-t-make-the-mistake-of-unleashing-a/) [Tom Segev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-segev/) > [Don't take too much comfort in the fact that you're successful today because tomorrow could bring failure. There's no surety in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-savage/don-t-take-too-much-comfort-in-the-fact-that-you-re-successful-today/) [Michael Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-savage/) > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [failure in the theater is more public, more brilliant, more unreal than in any other field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/failure-in-the-theater-is-more-public-more-brilliant-more-unreal-than/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [As we are coming to the end of the year, I want you to forget about the past, the failure, the negative thoughts or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-we-are-coming-to-the-end-of-the-year-i-want-you-to-forget-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 27,498 Failure quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Men and women make sad mistakes about their own symptoms, taking their vague uneasy longings, sometimes for genius, sometimes for religion, and oftener still for a mighty love.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Eliot" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/men-and-women-make-sad-mistakes-about-their-own-symptoms-taking-their/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Failure" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/men-and-women-make-sad-mistakes-about-their-own-symptoms-taking-their/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f3f/george-eliot-84_failure_men-and-women-make-sad-mistakes-about-th_483867.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f3f/george-eliot-84_failure_men-and-women-make-sad-mistakes-about-th_483867.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f3f/george-eliot-84_failure_men-and-women-make-sad-mistakes-about-th_483867.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Men and women make sad mistakes about their own symptoms, taking their vague uneasy longings, sometimes for…” — 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": "Men and women make sad mistakes...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/men-and-women-make-sad-mistakes-about-their-own-symptoms-taking-their/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/men-and-women-make-sad-mistakes-about-their-own-symptoms-taking-their/#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 } } ] } ```