Novel Quotes by E. M. Forster

10 Novel quotes by E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster’s classic sensibility surfaces in ten brief excerpts on novels, offering a concise taste of his belief in the connection between people and story.

Rate this collection: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet

The final test for a novel will be our affection for it, as it is the test of our friends, and of…

E. M. Forster

Image

In the novel we can know people perfectly, and, apart from the general pleasure of reading, we can find here a compensation…

E. M. Forster

Image

Axiom : Novel must have either one living character or a perfect pattern: fails otherwise.

E. M. Forster

Image

People in a novel can be understood completely by the reader, if the novelist can be understood completely by the reader, if…

E. M. Forster

Image

I have said that each aspect of the novel demands a different quality of the reader. Well, the prophetic aspect demands two…

E. M. Forster

Image

A novel is based on evidence, + or -x, the unknown quantity being the temperament of the novelist, and the unknown quantity…

E. M. Forster

Image

It is never possible for a novelist to deny time inside the fabric of his novel: he must cling, however lightly, to…

E. M. Forster

Image

A mirror does not develop because an historical pageant passes in front of it. It only develops when it gets a fresh…

E. M. Forster

Image

A novelist can shift view-point if it comes off. ... Indeed, this power to expand and contract perception (of which the shifting…

E. M. Forster

Image

As for 'story' I never yet did enjoy a novel or play in which someone didn't tell me afterward that there was…

E. M. Forster

Image

Other authors on Novel

More by E. M. Forster

Do not be proud of your inconsistency. It is a pity, it is a pity that we should be equipped like this. It is…

E. M. Forster

Image

Reverence is fatal to literature.

E. M. Forster

Image

This element of surprise or mystery - the detective element as it is sometimes rather emptily called - is of great importance in a…

E. M. Forster

Image

It is so difficult - at least, I find it difficult - to understand people who speak the truth.

E. M. Forster

Image

Railway termini are our gates to the glorious and the unknown

E. M. Forster

Image

Ah, but you see, I didn't want to be fair.

E. M. Forster

Image

The final test for a novel will be our affection for it, as it is the test of our friends, and of anything else…

E. M. Forster

Image

America is rather like life. You can usually find in it what you look for It will probably be interesting, and it is sure…

E. M. Forster

Image

A critic has no right to the narrowness which is the frequent prerogative of the creative artist.

E. M. Forster

Image

All men are equal — all men, that is to say, who possess umbrellas.

E. M. Forster

Image

Before the civil war, Pottibakia was a normal member of the Comity of Nations. She erected tariff walls, broke treaties, persecuted minorities, obstructed at…

E. M. Forster

Image

Chess is a forcing house where the fruits of character can ripen more fully than in life

E. M. Forster

Image