GE to Mrs. Peter Alfred Taylor, Witley, 18 July 1878
Title
GE to Mrs. Peter Alfred Taylor, Witley, 18 July 1878
Title
GE to Mrs. Peter Alfred Taylor, Witley, 18 July 1878
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Mrs. Peter Alfred Taylor
Date(s)
- 1878-07-18
Place
Witley
Letter Content
GE to Mrs. Peter Alfred Taylor, Witley, 18 July 1878
Text: Cross, III, 329-330.
I thought you understood that I have grave reasons for not speaking on certain public topics. No request from the best friend in the world -- even from my own husband -- ought to induce me to speak when I judge it my duty to be silent. If I had taken a contrary decision, I should not have remained silent till now. My function is that of the aesthetic, not the doctrinal teacher -- the rousing of the nobler emotions, which make mankind desire the social right, not the prescribing of special measures, concerning which the artistic mind, however strongly moved by social sympathy, is often not the best judge. It is one thing to feel keenly for one's fellow-beings; another to say, "This step, and this alone, will be the best to take for the removal of particular calamities."
Text: Cross, III, 329-330.
I thought you understood that I have grave reasons for not speaking on certain public topics. No request from the best friend in the world -- even from my own husband -- ought to induce me to speak when I judge it my duty to be silent. If I had taken a contrary decision, I should not have remained silent till now. My function is that of the aesthetic, not the doctrinal teacher -- the rousing of the nobler emotions, which make mankind desire the social right, not the prescribing of special measures, concerning which the artistic mind, however strongly moved by social sympathy, is often not the best judge. It is one thing to feel keenly for one's fellow-beings; another to say, "This step, and this alone, will be the best to take for the removal of particular calamities."
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Mrs. Peter Alfred Taylor, Witley, 18 July 1878, Complete George Eliot Letters(2026), George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett. https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed September 7, 2026. https://georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/93601