Adam Bede Dreams, Hopes, and Plans Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #10

Something like this sense of enlarged being was in Adam's mind this Sunday morning, as he rode along in vivid recollection of the past. His feeling towards Dinah, the hope of passing his life with her, had been the distant unseen point towards which that hard journey from Snowfield eighteen months ago had been leading him. Tender and deep as his love for Hetty had been—so deep that the roots of it would never be torn away—his love for Dinah was better and more precious to him, for it was the outgrowth of that fuller life which had come to him from his acquaintance with deep sorrow. "It's like as if it was a new strength to me," he said to himself, "to love her and know as she loves me. I shall look t' her to help me to see things right. For she's better than I am—there's less o' self in her, and pride. And it's a feeling as gives you a sort o' liberty, as if you could walk more fearless, when you've more trust in another than y' have in yourself. I've always been thinking I knew better than them as belonged to me, and that's a poor sort o' life, when you can't look to them nearest to you t' help you with a bit better thought than what you've got inside you a'ready." (54.9)

Adam has gained a "fuller life" as a result of his acquaintance with sorrow. Maybe he also got one of those "I sat through a murder trial in Stoniton and all I got was this lousy t-shirt" t-shirts. Anyway, Adam can now take a more enlightened look at his needs. Now, he clearly realizes Dinah's goodness and more fully understands how she can help him lead a better life.