Beautiful Quote by Mary Ann Evans
““A better-constituted boy would certainly have profited under my intelligent tutors, with their scientific apparatus; and would, doubtless, have found the phenomena of electricity and magnetism as fascinating as I was, every Thursday, assured they were. As it was, I could have paired off, for ignorance of whatever was taught me, with the worst Latin scholar that was ever turned out of a classical academy. I read Plutarch, and Shakespeare, and Don Quixote by the sly, and supplied myself in that way with wandering thoughts, while my tutor was assuring me that "an improved man, as distinguished from an ignorant one, was a man who knew the reason why water ran downhill." I had no desire to be this improved man; I was glad of the running water; I could watch it and listen to it gurgling among the pebbles and bathing the bright green water-plants, by the hour together. I did not want to know why it ran; I had perfect confidence that there were good reasons for what was so very beautiful. ("The Lifted Veil")””
About This Quote
Source Book: The Lifted Veil by George Eliot, 1859
The narrator rejects formal scientific education, preferring the simple, sensory beauty of nature over abstract explanations.
In simple terms: He values feeling over reason.
Embrace direct experience.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- walking by a stream
- observing wildlife
- contemplating art
- rejecting rote learning
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- Do you prioritize feeling over analysis?
- What does “beauty” mean to you?
His disdain for “improved” knowledge may limit deeper understanding.