"No story is the same to us after a lapse of time; or rather we who read it are no longer the same interpreters"

This quote by George Eliot talks to the idea that our interpretations of stories can change with time. This is because we, as readers, are constantly changing and developing. Our experiences, beliefs, and values shape how we analyze stories, and these can all alter over time. Therefore, when we revisit a story, we may translate it in a different way than we did before. This is because we are no longer the exact same people who read it the first time. Our perspectives have moved, and so our analyses of the story have altered as well. This quote advises us that our analyses of stories are not static, but rather, they are constantly progressing and altering.