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E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quotes

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Famous E. M. Forster Quotes

“Italy is such a delightful place to live in if you happen to be a man. There one may enjoy that exquisite luxury of Socialism--that true Socialism which is based not on equality of income or character, but on the equality of manners. In the democracy of the caffè or the street the great question of our life has been solved, and the brotherhood of man is a reality. But it is accomplished at the expense of the sisterhood of women.”

IfsMenMayHas BeensCharacterRealityHappensEnjoyDemocracyOur LivesStreetsIncomeSocialismLuxuryMannersAccomplishedExpensesBrotherhoodDelightfulBe A ManExquisiteSisterhoodPlaces To LiveBrotherhood Of Man
Book:Where Angels Fear to Tread: England Literature
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“In Europe life retreats out of the cold, and exquisite fireside myths have resulted—Balder, Persephone—but [in India] the retreat is from the source of life, the treacherous sun, and no poetry adorns it because disillusionment cannot be beautiful. Men yearn for poetry though they may not confess it; they desire that joy shall be graceful and sorrow august and infinity have a form, and India fails to accommodate them.”

MenMayBeautifulFormJoyDesireSunFailingSourceColdSorrowEuropeIndiaMythInfinityRetreatExquisiteAugustAccommodateDisillusionmentTreacherousSource Of LifePersephone
Author:E. M. Forster
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“One minute. You know nothing about him. He probably has his own joys and interests- wife, children, snug little home. That's where we practical fellows'- he smiled-'are more tolerant than you intellectuals. We live and let live, and assume that things are jogging on fairly well elsewhere, and that the ordinary plain man may be trusted to look after his own affairs.”

KnowsMenWellsLooksMayChildrenLittlesHomeJoyInterestWifeMinutesOrdinaryFellowsAssumingAffairPracticalsElsewhereTrustedOne MinuteJoggingLive And Let Live
Book:Howards End
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“Was Mrs. Wilcox one of the unsatisfactory people- there are many of them- who dangle intimacy and then withdraw it? They evoke our interests and affections, and keep the life of the spirit dawdling around them. Then they withdraw. When physical passion is involved, there is a definite name for such behaviour- flirting- and if carried far enough, it is punishable by law. But no law- not public opinion, even- punishes those who coquette with friendship, though the dull ache that they inflict, the sense of misdirected effort and exhaustion, may be as intolerable. Was she one of these?”

PeopleIfsMayEnoughLawSpiritPassionNamesInterestEffortOpinionInvolvedAffectionIntimacyDullBehaviourDefiniteFlirtingAchePublic OpinionEvokeExhaustionHowards EndCoquette
Book:Delphi Collected Works of E. M. Forster (Illustrated)
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“Lucy was suffering from the most grievous wrong which this world has yet discovered: diplomatic advantage had been taken of her sincerity, of her craving for sympathy and love. Such a wrong is not easily forgotten. Never again did she expose herself without due consideration and precaution against rebuff. And such a wrong may react disastrously upon the soul.”

WorldLoveMaySoulAgeSufferingTakenThis WorldAdvantageAnd LoveForgottenDuesConsiderationSincerityCravingDiplomaticLucyPrecautionSympathy And LoveRebuffEasily Forgotten
Book:A Room with a View
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“Neanderthal man listened to stories, if one may judge by the shape of his skull. The primitive audience was an audience of shock-heads, gaping around the camp-fire, fatigued with contending against the mammoth or wooly-rhinoceros, and only kept awake by suspense. What would happen next? The novelist droned on, and as soon as the audience guessed what happened next, they either fell asleep or killed him.”

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Author:E. M. Forster
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