I suggest that the only books that influence us are those for which we are ready, and which have gone a little farther down our particular path than we have yet gone ourselves.

Quote by E M Forster

Topics: Books Quotes

Books have to be read (worse luck it takes so long a time). It is...

Books have to be read (worse luck it takes so long a time). It is...

Nonsense and beauty have close connections.

Nonsense and beauty have close connections.

For our vanity is such that we hold our own characters immutable, and we are...

For our vanity is such that we hold our own characters immutable, and we are...

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...

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

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

Very notable was his distinction between coarseness and vulgarity, coarseness, revealing something; vulgarity, concealing something.

Very notable was his distinction between coarseness and vulgarity, coarseness, revealing something; vulgarity, concealing something.

If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope...

If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope...

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

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

Curiosity is one of the lowest of the human faculties. You will have noticed in...

Curiosity is one of the lowest of the human faculties. You will have noticed in...

The English countryside, its growth and its destruction, is a genuine and tragic theme.

The English countryside, its growth and its destruction, is a genuine and tragic theme.

The more highly public life is organized the lower does its morality sink.

The more highly public life is organized the lower does its morality sink.

I distrust Great Men. They produce a desert of uniformity around them and often a...

I distrust Great Men. They produce a desert of uniformity around them and often a...

A poem is true if it hangs together. Information points to something else. A poem...

A poem is true if it hangs together. Information points to something else. A poem...

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...

I am sure that if the mothers of various nations could meet, there would be...

I am sure that if the mothers of various nations could meet, there would be...

Be soft, even if you stand to get squashed.

Be soft, even if you stand to get squashed.

What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if...

What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if...

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

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

We cast a shadow on something wherever we stand.

We cast a shadow on something wherever we stand.

Most quarrels are inevitable at the time; incredible afterwards.

Most quarrels are inevitable at the time; incredible afterwards.