"We are all of us born in moral stupidity, taking the world as an udder to feed our supreme selves ..."
George Eliot [pseud. of Mary Ann Evans] (1819–1880), British novelist - Middlemarch

"Writing about life in small rural towns, George Eliot was primarily concerned with the responsibility that people assume for their lives and with the moral choices they must inevitably make. Although highly serious, her novels are marked by compassion and a subtle humor."