“ Miserliness is a capital quality to run in families; it’s the safe side for madness to dip on. ”
George Eliot, Middlemarch (1872). copy citation
| Author | George Eliot |
|---|---|
| Source | Middlemarch |
| Topic | madness quality |
| Date | 1872 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/145/145-h/145-h.htm |
Context
““you don’t mean to say that you would like him to turn public man in that way—making a sort of political Cheap Jack of himself?”
“He might be dissuaded, I should think. He would not like the expense.”
“That is what I told him. He is vulnerable to reason there—always a few grains of common-sense in an ounce of miserliness. Miserliness is a capital quality to run in families; it’s the safe side for madness to dip on. And there must be a little crack in the Brooke family, else we should not see what we are to see.”
“What? Brooke standing for Middlemarch?”
“Worse than that. I really feel a little responsible. I always told you Miss Brooke would be such a fine match.”
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