George Eliot Quotes

There are a hundred paths through the world that are easier than loving. But who wants easier?

Like everything which is not the involuntary result of fleeting emotion but the creation of time and will, any marriage, happy or unhappy, is infinitely more interesting than any romance, however passionate.

It's very easy to fall in love when things are great, but the way to really fall in love is when things aren't great.

As compromised as their marriage might be, part of her still believed in her vows. She loved the man he'd been, and she loved the man she knew he could be.

How many times could you give up on someone you loved?

Maybe you actually do need to face obstacles with someone to know that they're the one you'd sacrifice for.

Life and love generate effort but effort will not generate them.

But I'll tell you something else, too. Something I've learned, the hard way. I guess"—Gram laughed a little—"I'm the kind of person who has to learn things the hard way. You've got to hold on. Hold on to people. They can get away from you. It's not always going to be fun, but if you don't—hold on—then you lose them.

People who want their love easy don't really want love.

It seems to me that true love is a discipline.

Women are often belittled for trying to resurrect these men and bring them back to life and to love. They are in a world that would be even more alienated and violent if caring women did not do the work of teaching men who have lost touch with themselves how to love again. This labor of love is futile only when the men in question refuse to awaken, refuse growth. At this point it is a gesture of self-love for women to break their commitment and move on.

Love is an act of faith, not an exchange. Contradictions are what make love grow. Conflicts are what allow love to remain by our side.

True love, unlike popular sentimental substitutes, is willing to suffer. Love is not "luv." Love is the cross. Our problem at first, the sheer problem of suffering, was a cross without Christ. We must never fall into the opposite and equal trap of a Christ without a cross.

Every relationship has its complications.

Love doesn't grow on trees like apples in Eden - it's something you have to make. And you must use your imagination too.

I kind of came to the conclusion after I did finally get married that love and relationships are just a series of horrific losses with hopefully one win.

I've been in love before, every love-relationship is tough and it has its challenges.

I've never been very successful in a monogamous relationship, but I'm looking forward to the day when I can assume that responsibility.

Only married people understand you can be miserable and happy at the same time.

The thing is, relationships never work out... until they do. You learn a lot from relationships that don't work out.

You can't just turn love on and off.

I've been in many relationships in my life and learned a lot from them, good and bad.

Movies can provide tear-inducing or comically-entertaining representations of love, but many agree that its deeper conflicting complexities often seem unfathomable.

Marriage is neither heaven nor hell, it is simply purgatory.

Only true love can fuel the hard work that awaits you.