All invitations must proceed from heaven perhaps; perhaps it is futile for men to initiate their own unity, they do but widen the gulfs between them by the attempt. E. M. Forster More Quotes by E. M. Forster More Quotes From E. M. Forster Don't believe those lies about intellectual people. They're only written to soothe the majority. E. M. Forster believelyingpeople They cared for no one, they were outside humanity, and death, had it come, would only have continued their pursuit of a retreating horizon. E. M. Forster pursuithorizonhumanity Reformers who are obsessed with purity and cannot see that their obsession is impure. E. M. Forster obsessedobsessionpurity America is rather like life. You can usually find in it what you look for It will probably be interesting, and it is sure to be large. E. M. Forster lifeamericainteresting The English countryside, its growth and its destruction, is a genuine and tragic theme. E. M. Forster destructiongrowthliterature Failure or success seems to have been allotted to men by their stars. But they retain the power of wriggling, of fighting with their star or against it, and in the whole universe the only really interesting movement is the wriggle. E. M. Forster failurefightingstars Why children?' he asked. 'Why always children? For love to end where it begins is far more beautiful, and Nature knows it. E. M. Forster endsbeautifulchildren It's miles worse for you than that; I'm in love with your gamekeeper. E. M. Forster miles We are willing enough to praise freedom when she is safely tucked away in the past and cannot be a nuisance. In the present, amidst dangers whose outcome we cannot foresee, we get nervous about her, and admit censorship. E. M. Forster freedom-of-speechfearpast The advance of regret can be so gradual that it is impossible to say "yesterday I was happy, today I am not. E. M. Forster regretyesterdaytoday The kingdom of music is not the kingdom of this world; it will accept those whom breeding and intellect and culture have alike rejected. E. M. Forster kingdomscultureworld I think - I think - I think how little they think what lies so near them. E. M. Forster littleslyingthinking It is impossible to foretell the future with any degree of accuracy, that it is impossible to rehearse life. A fault in the scenery, a face in the audience, an interruption of the audience on to the stage, and all our carefully planned gesture mean nothing, or mean too much. E. M. Forster gesturesdegreesmean I have only got down on to paper, really, three types of people: the person I think I am, the people who irritate me, and the people I'd like to be. E. M. Forster threepeoplethinking Either life entails courage, or it ceases to be life. E. M. Forster be-courageousliteraturecourage I am an unspeakable of the Oscar Wilde sort. E. M. Forster unspeakablewildeoscars It comes to this then: there always have been people like me and always will be, and generally they have been persecuted. E. M. Forster persecutedlike-mepeople One doesn't come to Italy for niceness," was the retort; "one comes for life. Buon giorno! Buon giorno! E. M. Forster nicenessretorts Be soft, even if you stand to get squashed. E. M. Forster squashliteratureifs The crime of suicide lies rather in its disregard for the feelings of those whom we leave behind. E. M. Forster suicidefeelingslying
