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…

Quote by E M Forster

Topics: E M Forster Quotes

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

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

We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as...

We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as...

Think before you speak is criticism's motto; speak before you think, creation's.

Think before you speak is criticism's motto; speak before you think, creation's.

Logic! Good gracious! What rubbish!

Logic! Good gracious! What rubbish!

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.

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

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

Works of art, in my opinion, are the only objects in the material universe to...

Works of art, in my opinion, are the only objects in the material universe to...

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.

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.

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 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.

I suggest that the only books that influence us are those for which we are...

I suggest that the only books that influence us are those for which we are...

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...

The final test for a novel will be our affection for it, as it is...

The final test for a novel will be our affection for it, as it is...

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...

Life is easy to chronicle, but bewildering to practice.

Life is easy to chronicle, but bewildering to practice.

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.

At night, when the curtains are drawn and the fire flickers, my books attain a...

At night, when the curtains are drawn and the fire flickers, my books attain a...

He that can compose himself, is wiser than he that composes books.

He that can compose himself, is wiser than he that composes books.

It is all very well to be able to write books, but can you waggle...

It is all very well to be able to write books, but can you waggle...