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“a magnanimous acceptance of privation or suffering for ourselves when it is the condition of good to others”

George Eliot

Source
The Essays of George Eliot
Date
1883 collection
Attribution
Source identified
Meaning

What does this quote mean?

Eliot describes a form of acceptance that is active and relational rather than passive: willingly bearing a cost can become morally significant when that cost is genuinely required for another person’s good.

Source context

Where does it come from?

The Essays of George Eliot, Project Gutenberg #28289, in Eliot’s criticism of Edward Young’s moral and theological outlook. The phrase is part of a longer sentence listing elements of virtue rooted in human sympathy and arguing that such moral concern need not depend on belief in a future life.

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This wording is connected with the named source shown above. Translations and editions can vary, so consult the source note when exact wording matters.

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Themes

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