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 More Quotes by E. M. Forster More Quotes From E. M. Forster It makes a difference doesn't it, whether we fully fence ourselves in, or whether we are fenced out by the barriers of others? E. M. Forster making-a-difference differences fence The emotions may be endless. The more we express them, the more we may have to express. E. M. Forster endless emotion may Faith, to my mind, is a stiffening process, a sort of mental starch, which ought to be applied as sparingly as possible. I dislike the stuff. I do not believe in it, for its own sake, at all... My lawgivers are Erasmus and Montaigne, not Moses and St Paul. My temple stands not upon Mount Moriah but in the Elysian Field where even the immoral are admitted. My motto is 'Lord, I disbelieve - help thou my unbelief. E. M. Forster atheist mind believe Nonsense and beauty have close connections. E. M. Forster connections literature beauty At night, when the curtains are drawn and the fire flickers, my books attain a collective dignity. E. M. Forster fire night book My conviction gains infinitely the moment another soul will believe in it. E. M. Forster gains soul believe Mistrust all enterprises that require new clothes. E. M. Forster deep-life clothes fashion What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter into our daily lives? E. M. Forster stars tree wind The armour of falsehood is subtly wrought out of darkness, and hides a man not only from others, but from his own soul. E. M. Forster honesty soul men A poem is true if it hangs together. Information points to something else. A poem points to nothing but itself. E. M. Forster poetry literature together 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. E. M. Forster gone littles book The people I respect most behave as if they were immortal and as if society was eternal. E. M. Forster society literature people There is an aristocracy of the sensitive. They represent the true human tradition of permanent victory over cruelty and chaos. E. M. Forster aristocracy chaos victory Adventures do occur, but not punctually. E. M. Forster muddle adventure For it is a serious thing to have been watched. We all radiate something curiously intimate when we believe ourselves to be alone. E. M. Forster serious-things intimate believe Spoon feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon. E. M. Forster education running inspirational Books have to be read (worse luck it takes so long a time). It is the only way of discovering what they contain. A few savage tribes eat them, but reading is the only method of assimilation revealed to the West. E. M. Forster reading long book Life is easy to chronicle, but bewildering to practice. E. M. Forster literature practice life-is Like all her friends, I miss her greatly...But...I am sure there is no case for lamentation...Virginia Woolf got through an immense amount of work, she gave acute pleasure in new ways, she pushed the light of the English language a little further against darkness. Those are facts. E. M. Forster virginia light missing Liking one person is an extra reason for liking another. E. M. Forster literature liking-someone reason