--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We are all humiliated by the sudden…" description: "\"We are all humiliated by the sudden discovery of a fact which has existed very comfortably and perhaps been staring at us in private while we have been..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82c/george-eliot-84_discovery_we-are-all-humiliated-by-the-sudden-disc_2548534.png" --- # We are all humiliated by the sudden discovery of a fact… ![“We are all humiliated by the sudden discovery of a fact which has existed very comfortably and perhaps been staring at us in private while we have been making up our world entirely without it.” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82c/george-eliot-84_discovery_we-are-all-humiliated-by-the-sudden-disc_2548534.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82c/george-eliot-84_discovery_we-are-all-humiliated-by-the-sudden-disc_2548534.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82c/george-eliot-84_discovery_we-are-all-humiliated-by-the-sudden-disc_2548534.png) > “We are all humiliated by the sudden discovery of a fact which has existed very comfortably and perhaps been staring at us in private while we have been making up our world entirely without it.” [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. Humanity feels embarrassed when a hidden fact, long ignored, suddenly becomes evident, exposing the fragility of our constructed realities. **In simple terms:** Discovery of hidden truths can be humiliating. Key Takeaway Stay open to unseen truths. Themes humility knowledge revelation Mood reflective thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - scientific breakthroughs - historical revisions - personal epiphanies - cultural shifts - self‑reflection Key Concepts philosophy psychology literature Questions to Reflect On - What hidden facts have shocked you? - How do you handle sudden paradigm shifts? A Different Perspective Denial may prevent acceptance of truth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Discovery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discovery/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Our world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/our-world/) [Staring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/staring/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [There is in writing the constant joy of sudden discovery, of happy accident.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-is-in-writing-the-constant-joy-of-sudden-discovery-of-happy/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I want the fact that I existed to mean something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-chapin/i-want-the-fact-that-i-existed-to-mean-something/) [Harry Chapin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-chapin/) > [Politicians were like talking dogs in a circus: the fact that they existed was uncommonly interesting, but no sane person would actually believe what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-furst/politicians-were-like-talking-dogs-in-a-circus-the-fact-that-they/) [Alan Furst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-furst/) > [To see an enemy humiliated gives a certain contentment, but this is jejune compared with the highly blent satisfaction of seeing him humiliated by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/to-see-an-enemy-humiliated-gives-a-certain-contentment-but-this-is/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [ They \[the Travelers\] know everything about the year that they're coming into. But you can know everything and still be tripped up by the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-mccormack/they-the-travelers-know-everything-about-the-year-that-they-re-coming/) [Eric McCormack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-mccormack/) > [Dudes have been making up stuff about themselves probably since there have been dudes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-rudder/dudes-have-been-making-up-stuff-about-themselves-probably-since-there/) [Christian Rudder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-rudder/) > [The best part of breaking up... is when you're making up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-spector/the-best-part-of-breaking-up-is-when-you-re-making-up/) [Phil Spector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-spector/) > [Those silly girls had no idea what they were really celebrating. They had no idea what it took to bring Agatha and her friends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-addison-allen/those-silly-girls-had-no-idea-what-they-were-really-celebrating-they/) [Sarah Addison Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-addison-allen/) > [I feel at times that I'm making up these little people and I've lost my mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-chute/i-feel-at-times-that-i-m-making-up-these-little-people-and-i-ve-lost/) [Carolyn Chute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-chute/) > [What do you look at while you’re making up your mind? Ours is not a reflective culture, we do no raise our eyes up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-harris/what-do-you-look-at-while-you-re-making-up-your-mind-ours-is-not-a/) [Thomas Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-harris/) > [Granpa said if there was less words, there wouldn't be as much trouble in the world. He said privately to me that there was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/forrest-carter/granpa-said-if-there-was-less-words-there-wouldn-t-be-as-much-trouble/) [Forrest Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/forrest-carter/) > [When you are lonely, writing can keep you company. It is also a form of self-compensation, a way of making up for things—as opposed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoff-dyer/when-you-are-lonely-writing-can-keep-you-company-it-is-also-a-form-of/) [Geoff Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoff-dyer/) > [To better myself I'm getting rid of my past, putting grudges from way back then to the side, making amends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-better-myself-i-m-getting-rid-of-my-past-putting-grudges-from-way/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The President? Hmmm, I wonder who that might be? Could it be, perhaps, the sitting two-term incumbent of the same party holding its convention?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fallows/the-president-hmmm-i-wonder-who-that-might-be-could-it-be-perhaps-the/) [James Fallows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fallows/) > [It ain't because lovers are so sensitive that they quarrel so often; it is because there is so much fun n the making up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/it-ain-t-because-lovers-are-so-sensitive-that-they-quarrel-so-often/) [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) ## 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 Discovery quotes > [ Next came the Patent laws. These began in England in 1624; and, in this country, with the adoption of our constitution. Before then \[these?\],… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/next-came-the-patent-laws-these-began-in-england-in-1624-and-in-this/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Throughout my work, I have assumed that the standard model is correct, and hence, the Higgs boson should be found. Although this is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashoke-sen/throughout-my-work-i-have-assumed-that-the-standard-model-is-correct/) [Ashoke Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashoke-sen/) > [There is usually no dreamer so unworldly as the anthologist. He wanders in a vast garden, lost in wonder, unable to decide often between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/there-is-usually-no-dreamer-so-unworldly-as-the-anthologist-he/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [New generations of humans inherit the acquired discoveries of generations past, allowing cosmic insight to accumulate without limit. Each discovery of science therefore adds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/new-generations-of-humans-inherit-the-acquired-discoveries-of/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [The discovery that heartbreak is indeed heartbreaking consoles us about our humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/the-discovery-that-heartbreak-is-indeed-heartbreaking-consoles-us/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [ “\[W\]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/) > [We cannot predict the new forces, powers, and discoveries that will be disclosed to us when we reach the other planets and set up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/we-cannot-predict-the-new-forces-powers-and-discoveries-that-will-be/) [Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [ That has been another interesting discovery: that basically a city \[Lagos\] could recover from a really deep, deep, deep pit. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rem-koolhaas/that-has-been-another-interesting-discovery-that-basically-a-city/) [Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rem-koolhaas/) > [Every fact of science was once Damned. Every invention was considered impossible. Every discovery was a nervous shock to some orthodoxy. Every artistic innovation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/every-fact-of-science-was-once-damned-every-invention-was-considered/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [When we look at the love of Christ, we make a wonderful discovery. Love is more a decision than an emotion! Christ-like love applauds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/when-we-look-at-the-love-of-christ-we-make-a-wonderful-discovery-love/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [Discovery is the ability to be puzzled by simple things. Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/discovery-is-the-ability-to-be-puzzled-by-simple-things-noam-chomsky/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [“In December of 2007 human bones including skulls, which have been radiocarbon dated back to between 1304 and 1424, were found in a museum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/captain-hank-bracker-seawater-one/in-december-of-2007-human-bones-including-skulls-which-have-been/) Captain Hank Bracker, "Seawater One > [The European talks of progress because by the aid of a few scientific discoveries he has established a society which has mistaken comfort for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/the-european-talks-of-progress-because-by-the-aid-of-a-few-scientific/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/education-is-a-progressive-discovery-of-our-own-ignorance/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [The characters in my novels are my own unrealized possibilities. 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