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 got ourselves.

Quote by E M Forster

Topics: Books Quotes

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.

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...

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...

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.

Oxford is Oxford: not a mere receptacle for youth, like Cambridge. Perhaps it wants its...

Oxford is Oxford: not a mere receptacle for youth, like Cambridge. Perhaps it wants its...

The only books that influence us are those for which we are ready, and which...

The only books that influence us are those for which we are ready, and which...

Life is easy to chronicle, but bewildering to practice.

Life is easy to chronicle, but bewildering to practice.

The king died and then the queen died is a story. The king died, and...

The king died and then the queen died is a story. The king died, and...

Those who prepared for all the emergencies of life beforehand may equip themselves at the...

Those who prepared for all the emergencies of life beforehand may equip themselves at the...

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...

But nothing in India is identifiable, the mere asking of a question causes it to...

But nothing in India is identifiable, the mere asking of a question causes it to...

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.

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...

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.

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 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.

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...

We are all like Scheherazade's husband, in that we want to know what happens next.

We are all like Scheherazade's husband, in that we want to know what happens next.

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...

Beauty ought to look a little surprised: it is the emotion that best suits her...

Beauty ought to look a little surprised: it is the emotion that best suits her...