Quotes from E.M. Forster

He had not the knack of surrounding himself with nice people--indeed, for a man of ability and virtue his choice had been singularly unfortunate; he had no guiding principle beyond a certain preference for mediocrity;

Madness is not for everyone, but Maurice's proved the thunderbolt that dispels the clouds.

They wished that they also knew Italian, for our phrases of approval and of amazement are so connected with little occasions that we fear to use them on great ones. We are obliged to become vaguely poetic, or to take refuge in Scriptural reminiscences.

There was no one even to tell her which, of all the sepulchral slabs that paved the nave and transepts, was the one that was really beautiful, the one that had been most praised by Mr. Ruskin. Then the pernicious charm of Italy worked on her, and, instead of acquiring information, she began to be happy.

Money was the fruit of self-denial, and the second generation had a right to profit by the self-denial of the first

Were you snubbed?" asked his son tranquilly. "But we have spoilt the pleasure of I don't know how many people. They won't come back." ". . . full of innate sympathy . . . quickness to perceive good in others . . . vision of the brotherhood of man . . ." Scraps of the lecture on St. Francis came floating round the partition wall.

I'm thankful it's into your hands I fell.

It so happened that Lucy, who found daily life rather chaotic, entered a more solid world when she opened the piano. She was then no longer either deferential or patronizing; no longer either a rebel or a slave. The kingdom of music is not the kingdom of this world; it will accept those whom breeding and intellect and culture have alike rejected.

Girls like Lucy were charming to look at, but Mr. Beebe was, from rather profound reasons, somewhat chilly in his attitude towards the other sex, and preferred to be interested rather than enthralled.

He looked at her as she stood by the pool's edge. She was got up smart, as she phrased it, and she reminded him of some brilliant flower that has no leaves of its own, but blooms abruptly out of a world of green.

Money's educational. It's far more educational than the things it buys.

History develops, art stands still.

Come this way immediately," commanded Cecil, who always felt that he must lead women, though he know not whither, and protect them, though he knew not against what.

Indeed, who would have supposed that tolerance, sympathy, and a sense of humour would inhabit that militant form?

Miss Alan was always thus being charitable against her better judgment. A delicate pathos perfumed her disconnected remarks, giving them unexpected beauty, just as in the decaying autumn woods there sometimes rise odours reminiscent of spring. She felt she had made almost too many allowances, and apologized hurriedly for her toleration.

Mr. Beebe smiled as Miss Alan plunged into an anecdote which he knew she would be unable to finish in the presence of a gentleman.

Money: give Mr Bast money, and don't bother about his ideals. He'll pick those up for himself.

Lucy does not stand for the medieval lady, who was rather an ideal to which she was bidden to lift her eyes when feeling serious.

To alter poor people until they became exactly like the people who were not so poor

Oh, what have I done?" "You fainted." "I—I am very sorry.

This solitude oppressed her; she was accustomed to have her thoughts confirmed by others or, at all events, contradicted; it was too dreadful not to know whether she was thinking right or wrong.

Alas! that Henry should fade away as reality emerged, and only her love for him should remain clear, stamped with his image like the cameos we rescue out of dreams.

It is a pity that Man cannot be at the same time impressive and truthful.

But the poetry of that kiss, the wonder of it, the magic that there was in life for hours after it—who can describe that?