--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There comes a terrible moment to many…" description: "\"There comes a terrible moment to many souls when the great movements of the world, the larger destinies of mankind, which have lain aloof in newspapers..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33c/george-eliot-84_aloof_there-comes-a-terrible-moment-to-many-so_290247.jpg" --- # There comes a terrible moment to many souls when the great… ![“There comes a terrible moment to many souls when the great movements of the world, the larger destinies of mankind, which have lain aloof in newspapers and other neglected reading, enter like an earthquake into their own lives--when the slow urgency of growing generations turns into the tread of…” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33c/george-eliot-84_aloof_there-comes-a-terrible-moment-to-many-so_290247.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33c/george-eliot-84_aloof_there-comes-a-terrible-moment-to-many-so_290247.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33c/george-eliot-84_aloof_there-comes-a-terrible-moment-to-many-so_290247.jpg) > “There comes a terrible moment to many souls when the great movements of the world, the larger destinies of mankind, which have lain aloof in newspapers and other neglected reading, enter like an earthquake into their own lives--when the slow urgency of growing generations turns into the tread of an invading army or the dire clash of civil war, and grey fathers know nothing to seek for but the corpses of their blooming sons, and girls forget all vanity to make lint and bandages which may serve for the shattered limbs of their betrothed husbands.” [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. When large societal upheavals intrude on personal lives, ordinary people confront loss and suffering. **In simple terms:** War and change bring personal tragedy. Key Takeaway Prepare for personal impact of historic events. Themes war societal change family loss Mood somber reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - family life - war zones - civil unrest Key Concepts historical forces human cost Questions to Reflect On - How do you cope with personal loss during crises? - What responsibilities do societies have to protect families? A Different Perspective Individual grief may be overlooked in grand narratives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aloof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aloof/) [Army](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/army/) [Civil war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-war/) [Clash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clash/) [Destiny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destiny/) [Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) [Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generations/) [Girl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/girl/) [Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grey/) [Husband](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/husband/) [Mankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mankind/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Movement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movement/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Newspapers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/newspapers/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Son](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/son/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Souls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/souls/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Urgency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/urgency/) [Vanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vanity/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Failures can be God's little whispers (or) a full earthquake in our lives because we didn't listen to the whispers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oprah-winfrey/failures-can-be-god-s-little-whispers-or-a-full-earthquake-in-our/) [Oprah Winfrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oprah-winfrey/) > [That thing of briefly losing sight of a child happened to me when the kids were younger, and you can't see them in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nesbitt/that-thing-of-briefly-losing-sight-of-a-child-happened-to-me-when-the/) [James Nesbitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nesbitt/) > [That terrible moment when you drop a soap while bathing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/that-terrible-moment-when-you-drop-a-soap-while-bathing/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I would tell high school Shane to just start writing down everything that was happening. It was so hard to think back to all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-dawson/i-would-tell-high-school-shane-to-just-start-writing-down-everything/) [Shane Dawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-dawson/) > [That terrible moment when you are halfway across the room with the food you just microwaved and your hands decide it's too hot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/that-terrible-moment-when-you-are-halfway-across-the-room-with-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“It is a terrible moment when you realise you’ll never do all the best things this world can offer; that you’ll never have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/django-wylie/it-is-a-terrible-moment-when-you-realise-you-ll-never-do-all-the-best/) Django Wylie > [“She would never understand her sister. Her sister was like the weather, no, she was worse than the weather. She was like an earthquake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-kahler/she-would-never-understand-her-sister-her-sister-was-like-the-weather/) [Victoria Kahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-kahler/) > [All those years on the psychiatrist's couch and suddenly the couch is moving. Good God, she is on that couch when the big one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hempel/all-those-years-on-the-psychiatrist-s-couch-and-suddenly-the-couch-is/) [Amy Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hempel/) > [The mountain trembled like an earthquake. Dust flew into the sky. And the rock turned dark red, like the color of blood'. 'How would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/the-mountain-trembled-like-an-earthquake-dust-flew-into-the-sky-and/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [“Their eyes locked and something deep rocked the space between them - like an earthquake shaking things up at the surface, redrawing boundaries in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kendall-grey/their-eyes-locked-and-something-deep-rocked-the-space-between-them/) [kendall grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kendall-grey/) > [When you fall in love it is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake, and then it subsides, you have to make a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-you-fall-in-love-it-is-a-temporary-madness-it-erupts-like-an-3/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-de-bernieres/love-is-a-temporary-madness-it-erupts-like-an-earthquake-and-then-3/) [Louis de Bernieres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-de-bernieres/) > [“Like a wind, like a storm, like a fire, like an earthquake, like a mud slide, like a deluge, like a tree falling, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/like-a-wind-like-a-storm-like-a-fire-like-an-earthquake-like-a-mud/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Mass civil disobedience is like an earthquake, a sort of general upheaval on the political plane.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/mass-civil-disobedience-is-like-an-earthquake-a-sort-of-general/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [When you fall in love, it is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake, and then it subsides. And when it subsides, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-de-bernieres/when-you-fall-in-love-it-is-a-temporary-madness-it-erupts-like-an/) [Louis de Bernieres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-de-bernieres/) ## 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 Aloof quotes > [Against the suffering which may come upon one from human relationships the readiest safeguard is voluntary isolation, keeping oneself aloof from other people. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/against-the-suffering-which-may-come-upon-one-from-human/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [To combat social awkwardness, I would just act like I couldn't be bothered - that kind of aloof persona or aloof demeanor. It's so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janeane-garofalo/to-combat-social-awkwardness-i-would-just-act-like-i-couldn-t-be/) [Janeane Garofalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janeane-garofalo/) > [If someone were plucked from the group and given those responsibilities, they might find themselves growing more aloof, just by virtue of that promotion.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/if-someone-were-plucked-from-the-group-and-given-those/) [Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/) > [Hungry wailing standeth not aloof.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hungry-wailing-standeth-not-aloof/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [ \[Kellyanne Conway\]taking \[Jennifer\] Palmieri to school. You had a lousy candidate, you've got a candidate who's arrogant and aloof and didn't even campaign in… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/kellyanne-conway-taking-jennifer-palmieri-to-school-you-had-a-lousy/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [“Relax; the world's not watching that closely. It's too busy contemplating itself in the mirror.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/relax-the-world-s-not-watching-that-closely-it-s-too-busy/) [Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [Love's not love When it is mingled with regards that stand Aloof from th' entire point.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/love-s-not-love-when-it-is-mingled-with-regards-that-stand-aloof-from/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [It is well known that we fight in God's cause... but unless God helps us by a miracle the English, who have faster and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-rodger/it-is-well-known-that-we-fight-in-god-s-cause-but-unless-god-helps-us/) [Nicholas Rodger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-rodger/) > [My father was aloof, very strange and very distant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-horowitz/my-father-was-aloof-very-strange-and-very-distant/) [Anthony Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-horowitz/) > [If you're a Brit you kinda get used to people being cold and aloof and just generally arrogant - particularly musicians. (Compared to Londoners…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thea-gilmore/if-you-re-a-brit-you-kinda-get-used-to-people-being-cold-and-aloof/) [Thea Gilmore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thea-gilmore/) > [People tell me all the time that I look forbidding or aloof. That doesn't bother me much - I am fairly private, withdrawn, and...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ric-ocasek/people-tell-me-all-the-time-that-i-look-forbidding-or-aloof-that/) [Ric Ocasek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ric-ocasek/) > [I know that keeping aloof is not a wise thing but since I have nothing to prove, please don't depict me as an escapist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suresh-gopi/i-know-that-keeping-aloof-is-not-a-wise-thing-but-since-i-have/) [Suresh Gopi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suresh-gopi/) > [When I am with French people, I am not aloof because I belong to them. My view is that the French president belongs to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuel-macron/when-i-am-with-french-people-i-am-not-aloof-because-i-belong-to-them/) [Emmanuel Macron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuel-macron/) > [I was drawn to be very solitary as a scholar. I lived a very quiet life, aloof, with my books, with my walks in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/i-was-drawn-to-be-very-solitary-as-a-scholar-i-lived-a-very-quiet/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [There was Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, an aloof superstar who had everything and needed no one. And Michael Jackson, the shy kid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jackson/there-was-michael-jackson-the-king-of-pop-an-aloof-superstar-who-had/) [Michael Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-jackson/) [Browse all 146 Aloof quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aloof/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There comes a terrible moment to many souls when the great movements of the world, the larger destinies of mankind, which have lain aloof in newspapers and other neglected reading, enter like an earthquake into their own lives--when the slow urgency of growing generations turns into the tread of an invading army or the dire clash of civil war, and grey fathers know nothing to seek for but the corpses of their blooming sons, and girls forget all vanity to make lint and bandages which may serve for the shattered limbs of their betrothed husbands.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Eliot" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-comes-a-terrible-moment-to-many-souls-when-the-great-movements/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Aloof" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-comes-a-terrible-moment-to-many-souls-when-the-great-movements/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33c/george-eliot-84_aloof_there-comes-a-terrible-moment-to-many-so_290247.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33c/george-eliot-84_aloof_there-comes-a-terrible-moment-to-many-so_290247.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33c/george-eliot-84_aloof_there-comes-a-terrible-moment-to-many-so_290247.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There comes a terrible moment to many souls when the great movements of the world, the larger destinies of…” — 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": "There comes a terrible moment to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-comes-a-terrible-moment-to-many-souls-when-the-great-movements/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-comes-a-terrible-moment-to-many-souls-when-the-great-movements/#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 } } ] } ```