E. M. Forster

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. ”

Think before you speak is criticism's motto; speak before you think, creation's. ”

Surely the only sound foundation for a civilization is a sound state of mind. ”

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

I distrust Great Men. They produce a desert of uniformity around them and often a pool of blood too, and I always feel a little man's pleasure when they come a cropper. ”

At the side of the everlasting why, is a yes, and a yes, and a yes. ”

One must be fond of people and trust them if one is not to make a mess of life. ”

A poem is true if it hangs together. Information points to something else. A poem points to nothing but itself. ”

One marvels why the middle classes still insist on so much discomfort for their children at such expense to themselves. ”

There is much good luck in the world, but it is luck. We are none of us safe. We are children, playing or quarrelling on the line. ”