forster Quotes

“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.”

“The sadness of the incomplete, the sadness that is often Life, but should never be Art.”

“I have no mystic faith in the people. I have in the individual.”

“I hate the idea of causes, and if I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country.”

“The work of art assumes the existence of the perfect spectator, and is indifferent to the fact that no such person exists.”

“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.”

“Only people who have been allowed to practise freedom can have the grown-up look in their eyes.”

“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.”

“What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter into our daily lives?”

“Well, you know what? The actor still gets up in the morning, if he's still got something to work with, you go out there and you do it. Never quit!”