“What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult to each other?”
- Source
- Middlemarch
- Date
- 1871–1872
- Attribution
- Source identified
- Voice / speaker
- Fictional character · Dorothea Brooke
What does this quote mean?
A meaningful life is connected with reducing other people’s burdens, making usefulness and care central rather than peripheral.
Where does it come from?
Middlemarch, Book VIII.
Who voices the line?
Fictional character · Dorothea Brooke. Dorothea says this at the Manor in Middlemarch while arguing that Lydgate’s friends should help him against calumny.
The source author and the local speaker can be different, especially in fiction, drama, dialogue and poetry.
How should this attribution be read?
This wording is connected with the named source shown above. Translations and editions can vary, so consult the source note when exact wording matters.