Quotes & anectdotes from the wise, the foolish, the courageous & the drunk

E. M. Forster Novelist

  • Gender: Male
  • Citizenship: England
  • Born: Jan 1, 1879
  • Died: Jun 7, 1970

Edward Morgan Forster OM, CH was an English novelist, short story writer, essayist and librettist. He is known best for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society. Forster's humanistic impulse toward understanding and sympathy may be aptly summed up in the epigraph to his 1910 novel Howards End: "Only connect ... ". His 1908 novel, A Room with a View, is his most optimistic work, while A Passage to India brought him his greatest success.

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

Charm, in most men and nearly all women, is a decoration. women

One must be fond of people and trust them if one is not to make a mess of life. trust

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nonsense and beauty have close connections. beauty

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

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

History develops, art stands still. art & history

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. art

One is certain of nothing but the truth of one's own emotions. truth

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

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

Love is always being given where it is not required. love

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

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

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

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

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

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

England has always been disinclined to accept human nature. nature

St. Patrick's Day March 17, 2025

There is no language like the Irish for soothing and quieting. 3 other sayings from John Millington Synge

3 other sayings from John Millington Synge

Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy. 28 quotes from William Butler Yeats

28 quotes from William Butler Yeats

Geographically, Ireland is a medium-sized rural island that is slowly but steadily being consumed by sheep. 27 other quotes from Dave Barry

27 other quotes from Dave Barry

We have always found the Irish a bit odd. They refuse to be English. 74 other thoughts from Winston Churchill

74 other thoughts from Winston Churchill