George Eliot (the pen name of Mary Ann Evans) was a leading Victorian novelist known for her psychological insight and moral seriousness. This line, often paraphrased from her novel Middlemarch, speaks to the redemptive power of self-reinvention at any stage of life. It pushes back against regret and the idea that missed opportunities are final, suggesting that personal growth and authenticity are always accessible. The quote resonates widely because it reframes aging not as decline but as a horizon of possibility.