Quotes by E. M. Forster - AI Generated Quotes

E. M. Forster

To make us feel small in the right way is a function of art men can only make us feel small in the wrong way.

-E. M. Forster

art

Works of art, in my opinion, are the only objects in the material universe to possess internal order, and that is why, though I don't believe that only art matters, I do believe in Art for Art's sake.

-E. M. Forster

art

History develops, art stands still.

-E. M. Forster

art

The sadness of the incomplete, the sadness that is often Life, but should never be Art.

-E. M. Forster

art

The work of art assumes the existence of the perfect spectator, and is indifferent to the fact that no such person exists.

-E. M. Forster

art

Nonsense and beauty have close connections.

-E. M. Forster

beauty

Beauty ought to look a little surprised: it is the emotion that best suits her face. The beauty who does not look surprised, who accepts her position as her due - she reminds us too much of a prima donna.

-E. M. Forster

beauty

Beauty ought to look a little surprised: it is the emotion that best suits her face. The beauty who does not look surprised, who accepts her position as her due - she reminds us too much of a prima donna.

-E. M. Forster

best

Either life entails courage, or it ceases to be life.

-E. M. Forster

courage

The main facts in human life are five: birth, food, sleep, love and death.

-E. M. Forster

death

People have their own deaths as well as their own lives, and even if there is nothing beyond death, we shall differ in our nothingness.

-E. M. Forster

death

Death destroys a man, but the idea of death saves him.

-E. M. Forster

death

I am so used to seeing the sort of play which deals with one man and two women. They do not leave me with the feeling I have made a full theatrical meal they do not give me the experience of the multiplicity of life.

-E. M. Forster

experience

The historian must have some conception of how men who are not historians behave. Otherwise he will move in a world of the dead. He can only gain that conception through personal experience, and he can only use his personal experiences when he is a genius.

-E. M. Forster

experience

Faith, to my mind, is a stiffening process, a sort of mental starch.

-E. M. Forster

faith

I have no mystic faith in the people. I have in the individual.

-E. M. Forster

faith

The main facts in human life are five: birth, food, sleep, love and death.

-E. M. Forster

food

We are willing enough to praise freedom when she is safely tucked away in the past and cannot be a nuisance. In the present, amidst dangers whose outcome we cannot foresee, we get nervous about her, and admit censorship.

-E. M. Forster

freedom

Only people who have been allowed to practise freedom can have the grown-up look in their eyes.

-E. M. Forster

freedom

What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter into our daily lives?

-E. M. Forster

good

What is wonderful about great literature is that it transforms the man who reads it towards the condition of the man who wrote.

-E. M. Forster

great

History develops, art stands still.

-E. M. Forster

history

I hate the idea of causes, and if I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country.

-E. M. Forster

hope

If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country.

-E. M. Forster

hope

We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.

-E. M. Forster

life

The main facts in human life are five: birth, food, sleep, love and death.

-E. M. Forster

life

Love is always being given where it is not required.

-E. M. Forster

love

The main facts in human life are five: birth, food, sleep, love and death.

-E. M. Forster

love

I am sure that if the mothers of various nations could meet, there would be no more wars.

-E. M. Forster

mom

One of the evils of money is that it tempts us to look at it rather than at the things that it buys.

-E. M. Forster

money

What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter into our daily lives?

-E. M. Forster

nature

England has always been disinclined to accept human nature.

-E. M. Forster

nature

A poem is true if it hangs together. Information points to something else. A poem points to nothing but itself.

-E. M. Forster

poetry

The sort of poetry I seek resides in objects man can't touch.

-E. M. Forster

poetry

The people I respect most behave as if they were immortal and as if society was eternal.

-E. M. Forster

respect

E. M. Forster

To make us feel small in the right way is a function of art men can only make us feel small in the wrong way.

Works of art, in my opinion, are the only objects in the material universe to possess internal order, and that is why, though I don't believe that only art matters, I do believe in Art for Art's sake.

History develops, art stands still.

The sadness of the incomplete, the sadness that is often Life, but should never be Art.

The work of art assumes the existence of the perfect spectator, and is indifferent to the fact that no such person exists.

Nonsense and beauty have close connections.

Beauty ought to look a little surprised: it is the emotion that best suits her face. The beauty who does not look surprised, who accepts her position as her due - she reminds us too much of a prima donna.

Beauty ought to look a little surprised: it is the emotion that best suits her face. The beauty who does not look surprised, who accepts her position as her due - she reminds us too much of a prima donna.

Either life entails courage, or it ceases to be life.

The main facts in human life are five: birth, food, sleep, love and death.

People have their own deaths as well as their own lives, and even if there is nothing beyond death, we shall differ in our nothingness.

Death destroys a man, but the idea of death saves him.

I am so used to seeing the sort of play which deals with one man and two women. They do not leave me with the feeling I have made a full theatrical meal they do not give me the experience of the multiplicity of life.

The historian must have some conception of how men who are not historians behave. Otherwise he will move in a world of the dead. He can only gain that conception through personal experience, and he can only use his personal experiences when he is a genius.

Faith, to my mind, is a stiffening process, a sort of mental starch.

I have no mystic faith in the people. I have in the individual.

The main facts in human life are five: birth, food, sleep, love and death.

We are willing enough to praise freedom when she is safely tucked away in the past and cannot be a nuisance. In the present, amidst dangers whose outcome we cannot foresee, we get nervous about her, and admit censorship.

Only people who have been allowed to practise freedom can have the grown-up look in their eyes.

What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter into our daily lives?

What is wonderful about great literature is that it transforms the man who reads it towards the condition of the man who wrote.

History develops, art stands still.

I hate the idea of causes, and if I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country.

If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country.

We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.

The main facts in human life are five: birth, food, sleep, love and death.

Love is always being given where it is not required.

The main facts in human life are five: birth, food, sleep, love and death.

I am sure that if the mothers of various nations could meet, there would be no more wars.

One of the evils of money is that it tempts us to look at it rather than at the things that it buys.

What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter into our daily lives?

England has always been disinclined to accept human nature.

A poem is true if it hangs together. Information points to something else. A poem points to nothing but itself.

The sort of poetry I seek resides in objects man can't touch.

The people I respect most behave as if they were immortal and as if society was eternal.

The people I respect most behave as if they were immortal and as if society was eternal.

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