"The egoism which enters into our theories does not affect their sincerity; rather, the more our egoism is satisfied, the more robust is our belief"
About this Quote
Eliot nails an uncomfortable fact about how “sincere” belief actually gets manufactured: ego doesn’t corrupt conviction from the outside; it can be the fuel that makes conviction feel airtight from the inside. The line has the cool bite of psychological realism. It refuses the flattering story that our best ideas are purified of self-interest. Instead, it suggests that when a theory flatters our self-image, explains our anxieties, or grants us moral status, it doesn’t merely tempt us to lie; it stabilizes our sense that we’re telling the truth.
The subtext is almost proto-cognitive science: people don’t just argue to persuade others, they argue to confirm a version of themselves they can live with. “Egoism” here isn’t cartoon vanity; it’s the everyday need to feel coherent, competent, justified. A theory that satisfies that need becomes emotionally load-bearing, so we defend it with a zeal that looks like integrity. Eliot’s twist is the reversal of suspicion: the danger isn’t hypocrisy, it’s authenticity that’s been overfed. The more a belief props up the self, the more “robust” it becomes, precisely because attacking it would feel like personal annihilation.
Context matters. Writing in Victorian England, Eliot watched moral certainty harden into social power: religious dogma, class assumptions, gender scripts. As a novelist, she specialized in exposing how private motives animate public principles. This sentence is a scalpel aimed at the era’s confidence - and at ours - warning that the fiercest sincerity can be the surest sign of a theory doing ego’s quiet work.
The subtext is almost proto-cognitive science: people don’t just argue to persuade others, they argue to confirm a version of themselves they can live with. “Egoism” here isn’t cartoon vanity; it’s the everyday need to feel coherent, competent, justified. A theory that satisfies that need becomes emotionally load-bearing, so we defend it with a zeal that looks like integrity. Eliot’s twist is the reversal of suspicion: the danger isn’t hypocrisy, it’s authenticity that’s been overfed. The more a belief props up the self, the more “robust” it becomes, precisely because attacking it would feel like personal annihilation.
Context matters. Writing in Victorian England, Eliot watched moral certainty harden into social power: religious dogma, class assumptions, gender scripts. As a novelist, she specialized in exposing how private motives animate public principles. This sentence is a scalpel aimed at the era’s confidence - and at ours - warning that the fiercest sincerity can be the surest sign of a theory doing ego’s quiet work.
Quote Details
| Topic | Reason & Logic |
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