--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Plotting covetousness and deliberate…" description: "\"“Plotting covetousness and deliberate contrivance, in order to compass a selfish end, are nowhere abundant but in the world of the dramatist: they dema..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d71/george-eliot-84_covetousness_plotting-covetousness-and-deliberate-con_2769223.png" --- # Plotting covetousness and deliberate contrivance, in order… ![“Plotting covetousness and deliberate contrivance, in order to compass a selfish end, are nowhere abundant but in the world of the dramatist: they demand too intense a mental action for many of our fellow-parishioners to be guilty of them. It is easy enough to spoil the lives of our neighbors…” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d71/george-eliot-84_covetousness_plotting-covetousness-and-deliberate-con_2769223.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d71/george-eliot-84_covetousness_plotting-covetousness-and-deliberate-con_2769223.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d71/george-eliot-84_covetousness_plotting-covetousness-and-deliberate-con_2769223.png) > ““Plotting covetousness and deliberate contrivance, in order to compass a selfish end, are nowhere abundant but in the world of the dramatist: they demand too intense a mental action for many of our fellow-parishioners to be guilty of them. It is easy enough to spoil the lives of our neighbors without taking so much trouble; we can do it by lazy acquiescence and lazy omission, by trivial falsities for which we hardly know a reason, by small frauds neutralized by small extravagances, by maladroit flatteries, and clumsily improvised insinuations. We live from hand to mouth, most of us, with a small family of immediate desires; we do little else than snatch a morsel to satisfy the hungry brood, rarely thinking of seed-corn or the next year's crop. Mr.”” [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. Eliot critiques how people often harm others through small, lazy acts rather than grand conspiracies, highlighting everyday moral negligence. **In simple terms:** People cause harm through small, careless actions. Key Takeaway Be mindful of subtle harms you cause. Themes morality human nature social responsibility Mood reflective critical Type observational ethical When to use this quote - personal interactions - workplace - community - family - politics Key Concepts ethical negligence everyday harm selfishness Questions to Reflect On - How do you recognize subtle harms you cause? - What small actions can you change to reduce harm? A Different Perspective Even small acts can have large negative impacts, making change difficult. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Covetousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/covetousness/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Selfishness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selfishness/) [Small family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/small-family/) ## Related quotes > [Every year since I was very small, my family - Mum, Dad, sister Charlie-Ann and brother Stephen - and I have been holidaying in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pixie-lott/every-year-since-i-was-very-small-my-family-mum-dad-sister-charlie/) [Pixie Lott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pixie-lott/) > [I don't have a crew. I have a small family. I never let anybody from the outside in, because I didn't want anybody to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyle-lowry/i-don-t-have-a-crew-i-have-a-small-family-i-never-let-anybody-from/) [Kyle Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyle-lowry/) > [I would love four children because I have a very small family, so I want those big Thanksgiving dinners.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chrissy-teigen/i-would-love-four-children-because-i-have-a-very-small-family-so-i/) [Chrissy Teigen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chrissy-teigen/) > [If I had my way, I would write the word 'insure' over every door of every cottage and upon the blotting pad of every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/if-i-had-my-way-i-would-write-the-word-insure-over-every-door-of/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [The Department of Agriculture plays an integral role in supporting New Mexico's farms - from small family farms to large agricultural operations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-ray-lujan/the-department-of-agriculture-plays-an-integral-role-in-supporting/) [Ben Ray Lujan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-ray-lujan/) > [Small family farmers are the only things that can save us because they take care of the land. Future farmers of America are going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willie-nelson/small-family-farmers-are-the-only-things-that-can-save-us-because/) [Willie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willie-nelson/) > [Sexual desire declines after four to seven years. That's been proven.Because it's the most compatible with our spiritual origins. Father, mother, small family -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/volkmar-sigusch/sexual-desire-declines-after-four-to-seven-years-that-s-been-proven/) [Volkmar Sigusch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/volkmar-sigusch/) > [“...it is plain that the proportion of celibates was high in the Roman empire and that the fall in the fertility of marriages was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eileen-power/it-is-plain-that-the-proportion-of-celibates-was-high-in-the-roman/) [Eileen Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eileen-power/) > [“I got presents as a kid. That stopped in my teens. The small family gifts were gone. Replaced by dark humor – "I got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damon-thomas/i-got-presents-as-a-kid-that-stopped-in-my-teens-the-small-family/) [Damon Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damon-thomas/) > [“He met his day in the shower, washing his hair with shampoo that was guaranteed to have never been put in a bunny's eyes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-moore/he-met-his-day-in-the-shower-washing-his-hair-with-shampoo-that-was/) [Christopher Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-moore/) > [“It was my turn to be silent while a small family of moments crossed my path, single file, from the left, sticking their tongues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-zelazny/it-was-my-turn-to-be-silent-while-a-small-family-of-moments-crossed/) [Roger Zelazny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-zelazny/) > [Todays Reality: Big house but small family.. More education, degrees but less common sense.. Advanced medicine but poor health.. Touched moon but neighbours unknown..…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/todays-reality-big-house-but-small-family-more-education-degrees-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The Alzheimer's Association in the United States, founded by Jerome Stone, they found me because they had heard rumours that my mom was diagnosed.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmin-aga-khan/the-alzheimer-s-association-in-the-united-states-founded-by-jerome/) [Yasmin Aga Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmin-aga-khan/) > ['Avunu' is a thriller, suspense film set within a small family with a good mix of scary and funny moments, but not a horror…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-babu/avunu-is-a-thriller-suspense-film-set-within-a-small-family-with-a/) [Ravi Babu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-babu/) > [I try to create a very casual working place, where everybody - down to production assistants - can throw out ideas and not feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-baker/i-try-to-create-a-very-casual-working-place-where-everybody-down-to/) [Sean Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-baker/) ## 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 Covetousness quotes > [There are three things against which the wise man guards: lust when young, quarrels when strong, and covetousness when old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/there-are-three-things-against-which-the-wise-man-guards-lust-when/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Let us avoid debt as we would avoid a plague...Let every head of every household see to it that he has on hand enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-reuben-clark/let-us-avoid-debt-as-we-would-avoid-a-plague-let-every-head-of-every/) [J. Reuben Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-reuben-clark/) > [Perfect love is to feeling what perfect white is to color. Many think that white is the absence of color. It is not. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/perfect-love-is-to-feeling-what-perfect-white-is-to-color-many-think/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If we are to say no to covetousness, we must learn to say yes to contentment. This involves learning to be content with what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alistair-begg/if-we-are-to-say-no-to-covetousness-we-must-learn-to-say-yes-to/) [Alistair Begg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alistair-begg/) > [There are four Powers: memory and intellect, desire and covetousness. The two first are mental and the others sensual. The three senses: sight, hearing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/there-are-four-powers-memory-and-intellect-desire-and-covetousness/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [I have heard thousands of confessions, but never one of covetousness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-xavier/i-have-heard-thousands-of-confessions-but-never-one-of-covetousness/) [Francis Xavier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-xavier/) > [It was with good reason that God commanded through Moses that the vineyard and harvest were not to be gleaned to the last grape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/it-was-with-good-reason-that-god-commanded-through-moses-that-the/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [The evils of the body are murder, theft, and adultery; of the tongue, lying, slander, abuse and idle talk; of the mind, covetousness, hatred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/the-evils-of-the-body-are-murder-theft-and-adultery-of-the-tongue/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [Covetousness, anger and foolishness are things to sort out well. When bad things happen in the world, if you look at them comparatively, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yamamoto-tsunetomo/covetousness-anger-and-foolishness-are-things-to-sort-out-well-when/) [Yamamoto Tsunetomo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yamamoto-tsunetomo/) > [The Word says, ‘Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world’ (1 John 2:15). Jesus warned, ‘Beware of covetousness: for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wilkerson/the-word-says-love-not-the-world-neither-the-things-that-are-in-the/) [David Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wilkerson/) > [While it is undeniable that many have been driven to immorality and crime by the need to survive, it is equally evident that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aung-san-suu-kyi/while-it-is-undeniable-that-many-have-been-driven-to-immorality-and/) [Aung San Suu Kyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aung-san-suu-kyi/) > [Bare-faced covetousness was the moving spirit of civilization from its first dawn to the present day; wealth, and again wealth, and for the third…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/bare-faced-covetousness-was-the-moving-spirit-of-civilization-from/) [Friedrich Engels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-engels/) > [By Jove, I am not covetous for gold, Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost; It yearns me not if me my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/by-jove-i-am-not-covetous-for-gold-nor-care-i-who-doth-feed-upon-my/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Look at them. There are your true philosophers. I think that Mack and the boys know everything that has ever happened in the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/look-at-them-there-are-your-true-philosophers-i-think-that-mack-and/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Other passions have objects to flatter them, and seem to content and satisfy them for a while; there is power in ambition, pleasure in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/other-passions-have-objects-to-flatter-them-and-seem-to-content-and/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) [Browse all 126 Covetousness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/covetousness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Plotting covetousness and deliberate contrivance, in order to compass a selfish end, are nowhere abundant but in the world of the dramatist: they demand too intense a mental action for many of our fellow-parishioners to be guilty of them. It is easy enough to spoil the lives of our neighbors without taking so much trouble; we can do it by lazy acquiescence and lazy omission, by trivial falsities for which we hardly know a reason, by small frauds neutralized by small extravagances, by maladroit flatteries, and clumsily improvised insinuations. We live from hand to mouth, most of us, with a small family of immediate desires; we do little else than snatch a morsel to satisfy the hungry brood, rarely thinking of seed-corn or the next year's crop. Mr.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Eliot" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/plotting-covetousness-and-deliberate-contrivance-in-order-to-compass/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Covetousness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/plotting-covetousness-and-deliberate-contrivance-in-order-to-compass/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d71/george-eliot-84_covetousness_plotting-covetousness-and-deliberate-con_2769223.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d71/george-eliot-84_covetousness_plotting-covetousness-and-deliberate-con_2769223.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d71/george-eliot-84_covetousness_plotting-covetousness-and-deliberate-con_2769223.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Plotting covetousness and deliberate contrivance, in order to compass a selfish end, are nowhere abundant…” — 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": "“Plotting covetousness and deliberate contrivance, in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/plotting-covetousness-and-deliberate-contrivance-in-order-to-compass/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/plotting-covetousness-and-deliberate-contrivance-in-order-to-compass/#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 } } ] } ```