To make us feel small in the right way is a function of art men can only make us feel small in the wrong way. E. M. Forster on art
Works of art, in my opinion, are the only objects in the material universe to possess internal order, and that is why, though I don't believe that only art matters, I do believe in Art for Art's sake. E. M. Forster on art
History develops, art stands still. E. M. Forster on art
The sadness of the incomplete, the sadness that is often Life, but should never be Art. E. M. Forster on art
The work of art assumes the existence of the perfect spectator, and is indifferent to the fact that no such person exists. E. M. Forster on art
Nonsense and beauty have close connections. E. M. Forster on beauty
Beauty ought to look a little surprised: it is the emotion that best suits her face. The beauty who does not look surprised, who accepts her position as her due - she reminds us too much of a prima donna. E. M. Forster on beauty
Beauty ought to look a little surprised: it is the emotion that best suits her face. The beauty who does not look surprised, who accepts her position as her due - she reminds us too much of a prima donna. E. M. Forster on best
Either life entails courage, or it ceases to be life. E. M. Forster on courage
The main facts in human life are five: birth, food, sleep, love and death. E. M. Forster on death
People have their own deaths as well as their own lives, and even if there is nothing beyond death, we shall differ in our nothingness. E. M. Forster on death
Death destroys a man, but the idea of death saves him. E. M. Forster on death
I am so used to seeing the sort of play which deals with one man and two women. They do not leave me with the feeling I have made a full theatrical meal they do not give me the experience of the multiplicity of life. E. M. Forster on experience
The historian must have some conception of how men who are not historians behave. Otherwise he will move in a world of the dead. He can only gain that conception through personal experience, and he can only use his personal experiences when he is a genius. E. M. Forster on experience
Faith, to my mind, is a stiffening process, a sort of mental starch. E. M. Forster on faith
I have no mystic faith in the people. I have in the individual. E. M. Forster on faith
The main facts in human life are five: birth, food, sleep, love and death. E. M. Forster on food
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 on freedom
Only people who have been allowed to practise freedom can have the grown-up look in their eyes. E. M. Forster on freedom
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 on good