--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To manage men one ought to have a sharp…" description: "\"To manage men one ought to have a sharp mind in a velvet sheath.\" — George Eliot" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/253/george-eliot-84_greatness_to-manage-men-one-ought-to-have-a-sharp_2877461.png" --- # To manage men one ought to have a sharp mind in a velvet… ![“To manage men one ought to have a sharp mind in a velvet sheath.” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/253/george-eliot-84_greatness_to-manage-men-one-ought-to-have-a-sharp_2877461.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/253/george-eliot-84_greatness_to-manage-men-one-ought-to-have-a-sharp_2877461.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/253/george-eliot-84_greatness_to-manage-men-one-ought-to-have-a-sharp_2877461.png) > “To manage men one ought to have a sharp mind in a velvet sheath.” [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. Effective leadership requires a keen intellect hidden behind gentle demeanor. **In simple terms:** Sharp mind, gentle approach. Key Takeaway Lead with intellect and empathy. Themes leadership psychology management empathy Mood thoughtful balanced Type leadership philosophical When to use this quote - corporate leadership - team management - political negotiation - education administration Key Concepts strategic thinking emotional intelligence Questions to Reflect On - How do you maintain respect while staying approachable? - What signals convey both competence and kindness? A Different Perspective Balancing authority and softness can be challenging. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Management](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/management/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) ## Related quotes > [Rebecca is an example of how not to manage men. The rules of the game never change, it requires subtlety.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wesley/rebecca-is-an-example-of-how-not-to-manage-men-the-rules-of-the-game/) [Mary Wesley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wesley/) > [History reports that the men who can manage men manage the men who can manage only things, and the men who can manage money…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/history-reports-that-the-men-who-can-manage-men-manage-the-men-who/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [Keep your body sharp to keep your mind sharp.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justine-musk/keep-your-body-sharp-to-keep-your-mind-sharp/) [Justine Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justine-musk/) > [I haven't got an old man's brain. I have got a sharp mind and enjoy doing what I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-redknapp/i-haven-t-got-an-old-man-s-brain-i-have-got-a-sharp-mind-and-enjoy/) [Harry Redknapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-redknapp/) > [“We have to have a sharp mind, keen insight, and believe we are capable of anything that mentally and physically challenges us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlena-jackson/we-have-to-have-a-sharp-mind-keen-insight-and-believe-we-are-capable/) [Charlena Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlena-jackson/) > [Anyone with gumption and a sharp mind will take the measure of two things: what's said and what's done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/anyone-with-gumption-and-a-sharp-mind-will-take-the-measure-of-two/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [...the greatest weapon against big stupid men was a sharp mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melina-marchetta/the-greatest-weapon-against-big-stupid-men-was-a-sharp-mind/) [Melina Marchetta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melina-marchetta/) > [What can I expect from myself? My sensation in all their horrible acuity, and a profound awareness of feeling. A sharp mind that only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hemantsmarty/what-can-i-expect-from-myself-my-sensation-in-all-their-horrible-3/) Hemantsmarty > [What can I expect from myself? My sensation in all their horrible acuity, and a profound awareness of feeling. A sharp mind that only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/what-can-i-expect-from-myself-my-sensation-in-all-their-horrible-2/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [To live, a man needs food, water, and a sharp mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-zamperini/to-live-a-man-needs-food-water-and-a-sharp-mind/) [Louis Zamperini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-zamperini/) > [“What can I expect from myself? My sensation in all their horrible acuity, and a profound awareness of feeling. A sharp mind that only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/what-can-i-expect-from-myself-my-sensation-in-all-their-horrible/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [Love is such a simple thing when we have only one-and-twenty summers and a sweet girl of seventeen trembles under our glance, as if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/love-is-such-a-simple-thing-when-we-have-only-one-and-twenty-summers/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Sam loved to listen to music and make his own songs, to wear soft velvets, to play in the castle kitchen beside the cooks,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sam-loved-to-listen-to-music-and-make-his-own-songs-to-wear-soft/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Statuettes of drunken sailors, velvet pictures of island maidens, plastic seashell lamps made in Taiwan. What contempt the people who think up souvenirs have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-johnson/statuettes-of-drunken-sailors-velvet-pictures-of-island-maidens/) [Diane Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-johnson/) > [The sky was a sparkling succession of black diamonds on black velvet made crystal clear by the blackout.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/the-sky-was-a-sparkling-succession-of-black-diamonds-on-black-velvet/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) ## 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 Greatness quotes > [The man who can master his time can master nearly anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/the-man-who-can-master-his-time-can-master-nearly-anything/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Every man who is high up likes to think that he has done it all himself, and the wife smiles and lets it go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-man-who-is-high-up-likes-to-think-that-he-has-done-it-all/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [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/) > [“The power of imagination is strongest in the place of solitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/the-power-of-imagination-is-strongest-in-the-place-of-solitude/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [“You are destiny for greatness. Your future is in the hands of the Lord.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/you-are-destiny-for-greatness-your-future-is-in-the-hands-of-the-lord/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [We need to discover all over again that worship is natural to the Christian, as it was to the godly Israelites who wrote the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/we-need-to-discover-all-over-again-that-worship-is-natural-to-the/) [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [Nothing brings out the lower traits of human nature like office-seeking. Men of good character and impulses are betrayed by it into all sorts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutherford-b-hayes/nothing-brings-out-the-lower-traits-of-human-nature-like-office/) [Rutherford B. Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutherford-b-hayes/) > [Men generally decide upon a middle course, which is most hazardous, for they know neither how to be entirely good nor entirely bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/men-generally-decide-upon-a-middle-course-which-is-most-hazardous-for/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [Every man remembers his childhood as a kind of mythical age, just as every nation's childhood is its mythical age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giacomo-leopardi/every-man-remembers-his-childhood-as-a-kind-of-mythical-age-just-as/) [Giacomo Leopardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giacomo-leopardi/) > [Greatness is not guarding yourself from people. Greatness is being accepted by the people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-tyson/greatness-is-not-guarding-yourself-from-people-greatness-is-being/) [Mike Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-tyson/) > [The superior man is distressed by his want (lack) of ability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/the-superior-man-is-distressed-by-his-want-lack-of-ability/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Great men don't 'move to the center' - great men move the center!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/great-men-don-t-move-to-the-center-great-men-move-the-center/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [Perfection is the enemy of greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/perfection-is-the-enemy-of-greatness/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [Men want a challenge, but they want a challenge they can win.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-gaskell/men-want-a-challenge-but-they-want-a-challenge-they-can-win/) Whitney Gaskell [Browse all 7,631 Greatness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To manage men one ought to have a sharp mind in a velvet sheath.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Eliot" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/to-manage-men-one-ought-to-have-a-sharp-mind-in-a-velvet-sheath/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Greatness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/to-manage-men-one-ought-to-have-a-sharp-mind-in-a-velvet-sheath/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/253/george-eliot-84_greatness_to-manage-men-one-ought-to-have-a-sharp_2877461.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/253/george-eliot-84_greatness_to-manage-men-one-ought-to-have-a-sharp_2877461.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/253/george-eliot-84_greatness_to-manage-men-one-ought-to-have-a-sharp_2877461.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To manage men one ought to have a sharp mind in a velvet sheath.” — 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": "To manage men one ought to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/to-manage-men-one-ought-to-have-a-sharp-mind-in-a-velvet-sheath/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/to-manage-men-one-ought-to-have-a-sharp-mind-in-a-velvet-sheath/#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 } } ] } ```