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Top 500 E. M. Forster Quotes (2026 Update)
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E. M. Forster Quote: “I have always found writing pleasant and don’t understand what people mean by ‘throes of creation.’”

351. “I have always found writing pleasant and don’t understand what people mean by ‘throes of creation.’”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “As is Man to the Universe, so was the mind of Mr. Wilcox to the minds of some men – a concentrated light upon a tiny spot, a little Ten Minutes moving self-contained through its appointed years. No Pagan he, who lives for the Now, and may be wiser than all philosophers. He lived for the five minutes that have past, and the five to come; he had the business mind.”

352. “As is Man to the Universe, so was the mind of Mr. Wilcox to the minds of some men – a concentrated light upon a tiny spot, a little Ten Minutes moving self-contained through its appointed years. No Pagan he, who lives for the Now, and may be wiser than all philosophers. He lived for the five minutes that have past, and the five to come; he had the business mind.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “It is my fate and perhaps my temperament to sign agreements with fools.”

353. “It is my fate and perhaps my temperament to sign agreements with fools.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “But Italy worked some marvel in her. It gave her light...”

354. “But Italy worked some marvel in her. It gave her light...”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “Actual life is full of false clues and sign-posts that lead nowhere.”

355. “Actual life is full of false clues and sign-posts that lead nowhere.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “Words deserted him immediately. He could only speak when he was not asked to.”

356. “Words deserted him immediately. He could only speak when he was not asked to.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “Letters have to pass two tests before they can be classed as good: they must express the personality both of the writer and of the recipient.”

357. “Letters have to pass two tests before they can be classed as good: they must express the personality both of the writer and of the recipient.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “Gray clouds were charging across tissues of white, which stretched and shredded and tore slowly, until through their final layers there gleamed a hint of the disappearing blue. Summer was retreating. The wind roared, the trees groaned, yet the noise seemed insufficient for those vast operations in heaven. The weather was breaking up, breaking, broken, and it is a sense of the fit rather than of the supernatural that equips such crises with the salvos of angelic artillery.”

358. “Gray clouds were charging across tissues of white, which stretched and shredded and tore slowly, until through their final layers there gleamed a hint of the disappearing blue. Summer was retreating. The wind roared, the trees groaned, yet the noise seemed insufficient for those vast operations in heaven. The weather was breaking up, breaking, broken, and it is a sense of the fit rather than of the supernatural that equips such crises with the salvos of angelic artillery.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “All this fame and money, which have so thrilled me when they came to others, leave me cold when they come to me. I am not an ascetic, but I don’t know what to do with them, and my daily life has never been so trying, and there is no one to fill it emotionally.”

359. “All this fame and money, which have so thrilled me when they came to others, leave me cold when they come to me. I am not an ascetic, but I don’t know what to do with them, and my daily life has never been so trying, and there is no one to fill it emotionally.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “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.”

360. “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

E. M. Forster Quote: “It is never possible for a novelist to deny time inside the fabric of his novel: he must cling, however lightly, to the thread of his story, he must touch the interminable tapeworm, otherwise he becomes unintelligible, which, in his case, is a blunder.”

361. “It is never possible for a novelist to deny time inside the fabric of his novel: he must cling, however lightly, to the thread of his story, he must touch the interminable tapeworm, otherwise he becomes unintelligible, which, in his case, is a blunder.”

— E. M. Forster

Featured in: Quotes About Stories

E. M. Forster Quote: “And as her love revived, so did her capacity for suffering. Life, more important, grew more bitter.”

362. “And as her love revived, so did her capacity for suffering. Life, more important, grew more bitter.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “The bully and the victim never quite forget their first relations.”

363. “The bully and the victim never quite forget their first relations.”

— E. M. Forster

Featured in: Firsts Quotes

E. M. Forster Quote: “Silence and loneliness cannot last for ever. It may be a hundred or a thousand years, but the sea lasts longer, and she shall come out of it and sing.”

364. “Silence and loneliness cannot last for ever. It may be a hundred or a thousand years, but the sea lasts longer, and she shall come out of it and sing.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “They cared for no one, they were outside humanity, and death, had it come, would only have continued their pursuit of a retreating horizon.”

365. “They cared for no one, they were outside humanity, and death, had it come, would only have continued their pursuit of a retreating horizon.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “This solitude opressed her; she was accustomed to have her thoughts confirmed by others or, at all events, contradicted; it was too dreadful not to know whether she was thinking right or wrong.”

366. “This solitude opressed her; she was accustomed to have her thoughts confirmed by others or, at all events, contradicted; it was too dreadful not to know whether she was thinking right or wrong.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “Italy was offering her the most priceless of all possessions – her own soul.”

367. “Italy was offering her the most priceless of all possessions – her own soul.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “It is easy to face Death and Fate, and the things that sound so dreadful. It is on my muddles that I look back with horror – on thethings that I might have avoided.”

368. “It is easy to face Death and Fate, and the things that sound so dreadful. It is on my muddles that I look back with horror – on thethings that I might have avoided.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “Life – No, I’ve nothing to teach you about it for the moment. May be writing about it another week.”

369. “Life – No, I’ve nothing to teach you about it for the moment. May be writing about it another week.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “Did you ever dream you had a friend, Alec? Someone to last your whole life and you his. I suppose such a thing can’t really happen outside sleep.”

370. “Did you ever dream you had a friend, Alec? Someone to last your whole life and you his. I suppose such a thing can’t really happen outside sleep.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “Only a writer who has the sense of evil can make goodness readable.”

371. “Only a writer who has the sense of evil can make goodness readable.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “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.”

372. “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.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “Human beings have their great chance in the novel.”

373. “Human beings have their great chance in the novel.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “Belfastas uncivilised as ever – savage black mothers in houses of dark red brick, friendly manufacturers too drunk to entertain you when you arrive. It amuses me till I get tired.”

374. “Belfastas uncivilised as ever – savage black mothers in houses of dark red brick, friendly manufacturers too drunk to entertain you when you arrive. It amuses me till I get tired.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “Characters must not brood too long. They must not waste time running up and down ladders in their own insides.”

375. “Characters must not brood too long. They must not waste time running up and down ladders in their own insides.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “There’s never any great risk as long as you have money.”

376. “There’s never any great risk as long as you have money.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “Freedom does not guarantee masterpieces.”

377. “Freedom does not guarantee masterpieces.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “A thousand little civilities create tenderness in time.”

378. “A thousand little civilities create tenderness in time.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “Your soul, dear Lucy! I hate the word now, because of all the cant with which superstition has wrapped it round. But we have souls, and I see you ruining yours. I cannot bear it.”

379. “Your soul, dear Lucy! I hate the word now, because of all the cant with which superstition has wrapped it round. But we have souls, and I see you ruining yours. I cannot bear it.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “It happened like this, if it happened at all. I would rather go up to heaven by myself than be pushed by cherubs.”

380. “It happened like this, if it happened at all. I would rather go up to heaven by myself than be pushed by cherubs.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “She must be assured that it is not a criminal offense to love at first sight.”

381. “She must be assured that it is not a criminal offense to love at first sight.”

— E. M. Forster

Featured in: Firsts Quotes

E. M. Forster Quote: “He had awoken too late for happiness, but not for strength, and could feel an austere joy, as of a warrior who is homeless but stands fully armed.”

382. “He had awoken too late for happiness, but not for strength, and could feel an austere joy, as of a warrior who is homeless but stands fully armed.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “Petty unselfishness,” she repeated. “I had got an idea that every one here spent their lives in making little sacrifices for objects they didn’t care for, to please people they didn’t love; that they never learnt to be sincere – and, what’s as bad, never learnt how to enjoy themselves.”

383. “Petty unselfishness,” she repeated. “I had got an idea that every one here spent their lives in making little sacrifices for objects they didn’t care for, to please people they didn’t love; that they never learnt to be sincere – and, what’s as bad, never learnt how to enjoy themselves.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “Most quarrels are inevitable at the time; incredible afterwards.”

384. “Most quarrels are inevitable at the time; incredible afterwards.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “Beautiful?” said Miss Bartlett, puzzled at the word. “Are not beauty and delicacy the same?”

385. “Beautiful?” said Miss Bartlett, puzzled at the word. “Are not beauty and delicacy the same?”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter into our daily lives? They have never entered into mine, but into yours, we thought – Haven’t we all to struggle against life’s daily greyness, against pettiness, against mechanical cheerfulness, against suspicion? I struggle by remembering my friends; others I have known by remembering some place – some beloved place or tree – we thought you one of these.”

386. “What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter into our daily lives? They have never entered into mine, but into yours, we thought – Haven’t we all to struggle against life’s daily greyness, against pettiness, against mechanical cheerfulness, against suspicion? I struggle by remembering my friends; others I have known by remembering some place – some beloved place or tree – we thought you one of these.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “Standing each by his monster, they looked at each other, and smiled.”

387. “Standing each by his monster, they looked at each other, and smiled.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “The Waves is an extraordinary achievement... It is trembling on the edge. A little less – and it would lose its poetry. A little more – and it would be over into the abyss, and be dull and arty. It is her greatest book.”

388. “The Waves is an extraordinary achievement... It is trembling on the edge. A little less – and it would lose its poetry. A little more – and it would be over into the abyss, and be dull and arty. It is her greatest book.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “The aims of battle and the fruits of conquest are never the same;.”

389. “The aims of battle and the fruits of conquest are never the same;.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “Life had proved a blind alley, with a muck heap at the end of it, and he must cut back and start again.”

390. “Life had proved a blind alley, with a muck heap at the end of it, and he must cut back and start again.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “A rebel she was, but not of the kind he understood – a rebel who desired, not a wider dwelling-room, but equality beside the man she loved. For Italy was offering her the most priceless of all possessions – her own soul.”

391. “A rebel she was, but not of the kind he understood – a rebel who desired, not a wider dwelling-room, but equality beside the man she loved. For Italy was offering her the most priceless of all possessions – her own soul.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “It comes to this then: there always have been people like me and always will be, and generally they have been persecuted.”

392. “It comes to this then: there always have been people like me and always will be, and generally they have been persecuted.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “Madness is not for everyone, but Maurice’s proved the thunderbolt that dispels the clouds. The storm had been working up not for three days as he supposed, but for six years. It had brewed in the insecurities of being where no eye pierces, his surroundings had thickened it. It had burst and he had not died. The brilliancy of day was around him, he stood upon the mountain range that overshadows youth, he saw.”

393. “Madness is not for everyone, but Maurice’s proved the thunderbolt that dispels the clouds. The storm had been working up not for three days as he supposed, but for six years. It had brewed in the insecurities of being where no eye pierces, his surroundings had thickened it. It had burst and he had not died. The brilliancy of day was around him, he stood upon the mountain range that overshadows youth, he saw.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “And if insight were sufficient, if the inner life were the whole of life, their happiness has been assured.”

394. “And if insight were sufficient, if the inner life were the whole of life, their happiness has been assured.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “The present flowed by them like a stream. The tree rustled. It had made music before they were born, and would continue after their deaths, but its song was of the moment. The moment had passed. The tree rustled again. Their senses were sharpened, and they seemed to apprehend life. Life passed. The tree rustled again.”

395. “The present flowed by them like a stream. The tree rustled. It had made music before they were born, and would continue after their deaths, but its song was of the moment. The moment had passed. The tree rustled again. Their senses were sharpened, and they seemed to apprehend life. Life passed. The tree rustled again.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “Death destroys a man, but the idea of death saves him – that is the best account of it that has been yet given. Squalor and tragedy can beckon to all that is great in us; and strengthen the wings of love.”

396. “Death destroys a man, but the idea of death saves him – that is the best account of it that has been yet given. Squalor and tragedy can beckon to all that is great in us; and strengthen the wings of love.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “They have yielded to the only enemy that matters – the enemy within.”

397. “They have yielded to the only enemy that matters – the enemy within.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “One always tends to overpraise a long book, because one has got through it.”

398. “One always tends to overpraise a long book, because one has got through it.”

— E. M. Forster

Featured in: Book Quotes, Reading Quotes

E. M. Forster Quote: “I really don’t know what happens next – one so seldom does.”

399. “I really don’t know what happens next – one so seldom does.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “Intuition attracts those who wish to be spiritual without any bother, because it promises a heaven where the intuitions of others can be ignored.”

400. “Intuition attracts those who wish to be spiritual without any bother, because it promises a heaven where the intuitions of others can be ignored.”

— E. M. Forster

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