For our vanity is such that we hold our own characters immutable, and we are slow to acknowledge that they have changed, even for the better.

Quote by E M Forster

Topics: E M Forster Quotes

History develops, art stands still.

History develops, art stands still.

I am so used to seeing the sort of play which deals with one man...

I am so used to seeing the sort of play which deals with one man...

Logic! Good gracious! What rubbish!

Logic! Good gracious! What rubbish!

What is wonderful about great literature is that it transforms the man who reads it...

What is wonderful about great literature is that it transforms the man who reads it...

Letters have to pass two tests before they can be classed as good: they must...

Letters have to pass two tests before they can be classed as good: they must...

At the side of the everlasting why, is a yes, and a yes, and a...

At the side of the everlasting why, is a yes, and a yes, and a...

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

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

Creative writers are always greater than the causes that they represent.

Creative writers are always greater than the causes that they represent.

Love and understand the Italians, for the people are more marvellous than the land.

Love and understand the Italians, for the people are more marvellous than the land.

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

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

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

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

Most quarrels are inevitable at the time; incredible afterwards.

Most quarrels are inevitable at the time; incredible afterwards.

I am certainly an ought and not a must.

I am certainly an ought and not a must.

I never could get on with representative individuals but people who existed on their own...

I never could get on with representative individuals but people who existed on their own...

I'm a holy man minus the holiness.

I'm a holy man minus the holiness.

It is a mistake to think that books have come to stay. The human race...

It is a mistake to think that books have come to stay. The human race...

How can I know what I think till I see what I say?

How can I know what I think till I see what I say?

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

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

Reverence is fatal to literature.

Reverence is fatal to literature.

We cast a shadow on something wherever we stand.

We cast a shadow on something wherever we stand.