A human life, I think

A human life, I think, should be well rooted in some spot of a native land, where it may get the love of tender kinship for the face of earth, for the labours men go forth to, for the sounds and accents that haunt it, for whatever will give that early home a familiar unmistakable difference amidst the future widening of knowledge : a spot where the definiteness of early memories may be inwrought with affection, and kindly acquaintance with all neighbours, even to the dogs and donkeys, may spread not by sentimental effort and reflection, but as a sweet habit of the blood.

(1: 3: 26)

Home, Childhood

Published by the George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett, 2025. https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org

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Spoor, Hailee