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

Two cheers for Democracy; one because it admits variety, and two because it permits criticism.

Two cheers for Democracy; one because it admits variety, and two because it permits criticism.

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...

Reverence is fatal to literature.

Reverence is fatal to literature.

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...

Only a struggle twists sentimentality and lust together into love.

Only a struggle twists sentimentality and lust together into love.

Ideas are fatal to caste.

Ideas are fatal to caste.

No man can be an agnostic who has a sense of humor.

No man can be an agnostic who has a sense of humor.

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...

We are not concerned with the very poor. They are unthinkable, and only to be...

We are not concerned with the very poor. They are unthinkable, and only to be...

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.

Beethoven's Fifth Symphony is the most sublime noise that has ever penetrated into the ear...

Beethoven's Fifth Symphony is the most sublime noise that has ever penetrated into the ear...

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.

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...

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.

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...

It is the vice of a vulgar mind to be thrilled by bigness.

It is the vice of a vulgar mind to be thrilled by bigness.

Liking one person is an extra reason for liking another.

Liking one person is an extra reason for liking another.

I have only got down on to paper, really, three types of people: the person...

I have only got down on to paper, really, three types of people: the person...

Life is easy to chronicle, but bewildering to practice.

Life is easy to chronicle, but bewildering to practice.

Most quarrels are inevitable at the time; incredible afterwards.

Most quarrels are inevitable at the time; incredible afterwards.