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Top 500 E. M. Forster Quotes (2026 Update)
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E. M. Forster Quote: “It is pleasant to be transferred from an office where one is afraid of a sergeant-major into an office where one can intimidate generals, and perhaps this is why history is so attractive to the more timid among us. We can recover self-confidence by snubbing the dead.”

351. “It is pleasant to be transferred from an office where one is afraid of a sergeant-major into an office where one can intimidate generals, and perhaps this is why history is so attractive to the more timid among us. We can recover self-confidence by snubbing the dead.”

— 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.”

352. “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: “Life’s very difficult and full of surprises. At all events, I’ve got as far as that. To be humble and kind, to go straight ahead, to love people rather than pity them, to remember the submerged – well, one can’t do all these things at once, worse luck, because they’re so contradictory. It’s then that proportion comes in – to live by proportion. Don’t begin with proportion. Only prigs do that. Let proportion come in as a last resource, when the better things have failed...”

353. “Life’s very difficult and full of surprises. At all events, I’ve got as far as that. To be humble and kind, to go straight ahead, to love people rather than pity them, to remember the submerged – well, one can’t do all these things at once, worse luck, because they’re so contradictory. It’s then that proportion comes in – to live by proportion. Don’t begin with proportion. Only prigs do that. Let proportion come in as a last resource, when the better things have failed...”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “No disease of the imagination is so difficult to cure, as that which is complicated with the dread of guilt : fancy and conscience then act interchangeably upon us, and so often shift their places, that the illusions of one are not distinguished from the dictates of the other.”

354. “No disease of the imagination is so difficult to cure, as that which is complicated with the dread of guilt : fancy and conscience then act interchangeably upon us, and so often shift their places, that the illusions of one are not distinguished from the dictates of the other.”

— E. M. Forster

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

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

— E. M. Forster

Featured in: Firsts Quotes

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.”

356. “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: “Love was an emotion through which you occasionally enjoyed yourself. It could not do things.”

357. “Love was an emotion through which you occasionally enjoyed yourself. It could not do things.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “The final test for a novel will be our affection for it, as it is the test of our friends, and of anything else which we cannot define.”

358. “The final test for a novel will be our affection for it, as it is the test of our friends, and of anything else which we cannot define.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “Ah, but you see, I didn’t want to be fair.”

359. “Ah, but you see, I didn’t want to be fair.”

— E. M. Forster

Featured in: Book Quotes

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.”

360. “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: “Like his sister and like most young people, he was naturally attracted by the idea of equality, and the undeniable fact that there are different kinds of Emersons annoyed him beyond measure.”

361. “Like his sister and like most young people, he was naturally attracted by the idea of equality, and the undeniable fact that there are different kinds of Emersons annoyed him beyond measure.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “The world is certainly full of beautiful things, if only I could come across them.”

362. “The world is certainly full of beautiful things, if only I could come across them.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “This desire to govern a woman – it lies very deep, and men and women must fight it together... But I do love you surely in a better way than he does.” He thought. “Yes – really in a better way. I want you to have your own thoughts even when I hold you in my arms.”

363. “This desire to govern a woman – it lies very deep, and men and women must fight it together... But I do love you surely in a better way than he does.” He thought. “Yes – really in a better way. I want you to have your own thoughts even when I hold you in my arms.”

— 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.”

364. “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.”

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

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “I suppose I shall have to live now.”

366. “I suppose I shall have to live now.”

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “I have always found writing pleasant and don’t understand what people mean by ‘throes of creation.’”

367. “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.”

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

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

— E. M. Forster

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

370. “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.”

371. “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.”

372. “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: “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.”

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

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

— E. M. Forster

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.”

375. “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: “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.”

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

377. “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

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

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

— 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.”

379. “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;.”

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

— 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.”

381. “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.”

382. “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.”

383. “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.”

384. “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.”

385. “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: “Freedom does not guarantee masterpieces.”

386. “Freedom does not guarantee masterpieces.”

— E. M. Forster

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

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

— 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.”

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

389. “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.”

390. “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 was driven to use the prerogatives of his profession, to act the parson.”

391. “He was driven to use the prerogatives of his profession, to act the parson.”

— 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.”

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

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

394. “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?”

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

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “Books have to be read it is the only way of discovering what they contain.”

396. “Books have to be read it is the only way of discovering what they contain.”

— E. M. Forster

Featured in: Book Quotes

E. M. Forster Quote: “Reverence is fatal to literature.”

397. “Reverence is fatal to literature.”

— E. M. Forster

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

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

— E. M. Forster

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

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

— E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster Quote: “A critic has no right to the narrowness which is the frequent prerogative of the creative artist.”

400. “A critic has no right to the narrowness which is the frequent prerogative of the creative artist.”

— E. M. Forster

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