--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: They wept for humanity, those two, not…" description: "\"“They wept for humanity, those two, not for themselves. They could not bear that this should be the end. Ere silence was completed their hearts were op..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26e/e-m-forster-2-1148_dystopian_they-wept-for-humanity-those-two-not-for_2604300.jpg" --- # They wept for humanity, those two, not for themselves… ![“They wept for humanity, those two, not for themselves. They could not bear that this should be the end. Ere silence was completed their hearts were opened, and they knew what had been important on the earth. Man, the flower of all flesh, the noblest of all creatures visible, man who had once made…” quote by E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26e/e-m-forster-2-1148_dystopian_they-wept-for-humanity-those-two-not-for_2604300.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26e/e-m-forster-2-1148_dystopian_they-wept-for-humanity-those-two-not-for_2604300.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26e/e-m-forster-2-1148_dystopian_they-wept-for-humanity-those-two-not-for_2604300.jpg) > ““They wept for humanity, those two, not for themselves. They could not bear that this should be the end. Ere silence was completed their hearts were opened, and they knew what had been important on the earth. Man, the flower of all flesh, the noblest of all creatures visible, man who had once made god in his image, and had mirrored his strength on the constellations, beautiful naked man was dying, strangled in the garments that he had woven. Century after century had he toiled, and here was his reward. Truly the garment had seemed heavenly at first, shot with colours of culture, sewn with the threads of self-denial. And heavenly it had been so long as man could shed it at will and live by the essence that is his soul, and the essence, equally divine, that is his body. The sin against the body - it was for that they wept in chief; the centuries of wrong against the muscles and the nerves, and those five portals by which we can alone apprehend - glozing it over with talk of evolution, until the body was white pap, the home of ideas as colourless, last sloshy stirrings of a spirit that had grasped the stars. ”” [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage mourns humanity’s loss of connection to its physical and spiritual essence, seeing cultural constraints as a suffocating garment that obscures true vitality. **In simple terms:** Humanity mourns losing its physical and spiritual core under cultural constraints. Key Takeaway Recognize and honor both body and spirit. Themes humanity spirituality culture body death Mood melancholic reflective somber Type literary philosophical reflective When to use this quote - personal reflection - art criticism - philosophical essay - cultural analysis Key Concepts existentialism humanism dualism Questions to Reflect On - How do cultural practices shape our sense of self? - Can we balance body and spirit without rejecting culture? A Different Perspective The metaphor may overemphasize negativity and ignore cultural benefits. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dystopian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dystopian/) [Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirituality/) [Visionary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/visionary/) ## Related quotes > [“But what was truly upsetting was the way he separated my hands from his body. They wept silently. Either that or I was sweating.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kylie-scott/but-what-was-truly-upsetting-was-the-way-he-separated-my-hands-from-2/) [Kylie Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kylie-scott/) > [“But what was truly upsetting was the way he separated my hands from his body. They wept silently. Either that or I was sweating.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kylie-scott/but-what-was-truly-upsetting-was-the-way-he-separated-my-hands-from/) [Kylie Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kylie-scott/) > [“He wept because God was unfair, and because this was the way God repaid those who believed in their dreams.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/he-wept-because-god-was-unfair-and-because-this-was-the-way-god/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“In the silence I felt it all unravelling, the audience waking with the dream unfinished, all my work ruined, wasted. And all the while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/in-the-silence-i-felt-it-all-unravelling-the-audience-waking-with-the/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“When Alexander saw the depth of his empire he wept for there were no more worlds to concquer. Benefits of a classical education.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-gruber/when-alexander-saw-the-depth-of-his-empire-he-wept-for-there-were-no/) Hans Gruber > [“I had often envisioned my funeral—me lying against the rose-colored satin, looking utterly stunning, U2’ s and Ed Sheeran’s sadder songs playing gently in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristan-higgins/i-had-often-envisioned-my-funeral-me-lying-against-the-rose-colored/) [Kristan Higgins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristan-higgins/) > [We wept, Brooklyn was a lovely place to hit. If you got a ball in the air, you had a chance to get it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duke-snider/we-wept-brooklyn-was-a-lovely-place-to-hit-if-you-got-a-ball-in-the/) [Duke Snider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duke-snider/) > [When he heard there was nothing to eat, he sat down and wept… “Why did I ever wake up!” he cried.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-he-heard-there-was-nothing-to-eat-he-sat-down-and-wept-why-did-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I cry myself to sleep sometimes, wept the and the tears From malice, divorce meets to lost peers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-grae/i-cry-myself-to-sleep-sometimes-wept-the-and-the-tears-from-malice/) [Jean Grae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-grae/) > [“I long for scenes where man hath never trod A place where woman never smiled or wept There to abide with my Creator, God,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-clare/i-long-for-scenes-where-man-hath-never-trod-a-place-where-woman-never/) [John Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-clare/) > [“Mr. Crepsley was every bit as composed as he'd sworn he would be. He didn't even shed a tear when the funeral litter was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darren-shan/mr-crepsley-was-every-bit-as-composed-as-he-d-sworn-he-would-be-he/) [Darren Shan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darren-shan/) > [Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-golding/ralph-wept-for-the-end-of-innocence-the-darkness-of-man-s-heart-and/) [William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) > [And, hungry for the old, familiar ways, I turned aside and bowed my head and wept.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-mckay/and-hungry-for-the-old-familiar-ways-i-turned-aside-and-bowed-my-head/) [Claude McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-mckay/) > [“Yes,love."He leaned down,his hands splayed on her ankles,up he raked to her knees,her inner thighs until he had her legs spread so wide her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-wright/yes-love-he-leaned-down-his-hands-splayed-on-her-ankles-up-he-raked/) [Laura Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-wright/) > [“The rain feels good against my face, Sam. It feels like tears. Let me stay a while longer, I pray you. It has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin/the-rain-feels-good-against-my-face-sam-it-feels-like-tears-let-me/) [George R.R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin/) ## More by E.M. Forster > [“She gave up trying to understand herself, and the vast armies of the benighted, who follow neither the heart nor the brain, and march…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/she-gave-up-trying-to-understand-herself-and-the-vast-armies-of-the/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [“They had tried to reproduce their own attitude to life upon the stage, and to dress up as the middle-class English people they actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/they-had-tried-to-reproduce-their-own-attitude-to-life-upon-the-stage/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [“I believe in aristocracy, though -- if that is the right word, and if a democrat may use it. Not an aristocracy of power,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/i-believe-in-aristocracy-though-if-that-is-the-right-word-and-if-a/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [“Oh, what's the use of your fairmindedness if you never decide for yourself? Anyone gets hold of you and makes you do what they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/oh-what-s-the-use-of-your-fairmindedness-if-you-never-decide-for/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [“You mean that a Frenchman could share with a friend and yet not go to prison?’ ‘Share? Do you mean unite? If both are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/you-mean-that-a-frenchman-could-share-with-a-friend-and-yet-not-go-to/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [“Margaret realized the chaotic nature of our daily life, and its difference from the orderly sequence that has been fabricated by historians. Actual life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/margaret-realized-the-chaotic-nature-of-our-daily-life-and-its/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [“Everything seems just alike in these days.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/everything-seems-just-alike-in-these-days/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [“He had said it bravely, and that is why one can trust Beethoven when he says other things.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/he-had-said-it-bravely-and-that-is-why-one-can-trust-beethoven-when/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [“He whispered: ‘Is it this? Is this possible? I’ll put a marvel to you. That your cousin has always hoped. That from the very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/he-whispered-is-it-this-is-this-possible-i-ll-put-a-marvel-to-you/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [“Perhaps anything that he did would have pleased Lucy, but his awkwardness went straight to her heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/perhaps-anything-that-he-did-would-have-pleased-lucy-but-his/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [“Because a thing is going strong now, it need not go strong for ever,' she said. 'This craze for motion has only set in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/because-a-thing-is-going-strong-now-it-need-not-go-strong-for-ever/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [“England was alive, throbbing through all her estuaries, crying for joy through the mouths of all her gulls, and the north wind, with contrary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/england-was-alive-throbbing-through-all-her-estuaries-crying-for-joy/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [“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?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/but-the-poetry-of-that-kiss-the-wonder-of-it-the-magic-that-there-was/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [“But that some sonatas of Beethoven are written tragic no one can gainsay; yet they can triumph or despair as the player decides, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/but-that-some-sonatas-of-beethoven-are-written-tragic-no-one-can/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [“He chanced to be in a lucid critical mood, and would not sympathize with exaltation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/he-chanced-to-be-in-a-lucid-critical-mood-and-would-not-sympathize/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) [Explore all 274 E.M. Forster quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) ## More Dystopian quotes > [“A glacial chill rushes through Gage. He whips around just in time to see arms clutch Summer around the middle and drag her into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-kreitzer/a-glacial-chill-rushes-through-gage-he-whips-around-just-in-time-to/) [Laura Kreitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-kreitzer/) > [“I put my hand next to his shoulder on the door frame, not touching, but real close. “Look, Blondie. I’m not asking you to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rie-warren/i-put-my-hand-next-to-his-shoulder-on-the-door-frame-not-touching-but/) [Rie Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rie-warren/) > [“Her gaze travels back to the lie twisted in a tempest of mud and blood. She witnesses the culmination of her recklessness through a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-kreitzer/her-gaze-travels-back-to-the-lie-twisted-in-a-tempest-of-mud-and/) [Laura Kreitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-kreitzer/) > [“Sometimes it takes losing everything to see the truth in nothing, except love, honor, and death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-j-paige/sometimes-it-takes-losing-everything-to-see-the-truth-in-nothing/) N.J. Paige > [“But just being whatever it is that I am . . . I don’t think that makes me a monster. Believe me, I know.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-selden/but-just-being-whatever-it-is-that-i-am-i-don-t-think-that-makes-me-a/) Michael Selden > [“Struggling transforms her captor into a Chinese finger trap. She’s suffocating. Sucking in air without relief. Her lungs expand. Contract. Expand. They fill with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-kreitzer/struggling-transforms-her-captor-into-a-chinese-finger-trap-she-s/) [Laura Kreitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-kreitzer/) > [“It is the right of a free individual to be unhindered in their liberty! Especially to fail in their endeavors! Only in this manner…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-parfitt/it-is-the-right-of-a-free-individual-to-be-unhindered-in-their/) Keith Parfitt > [“If that which we have found is the corruption of solitude, then what can men wish for save corruption? If this is the great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/if-that-which-we-have-found-is-the-corruption-of-solitude-then-what/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“The king who stepped into the ballroom wearing a green velvet robe and bejeweled crown was none other that the tiger-man who'd prowled through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kat-falls/the-king-who-stepped-into-the-ballroom-wearing-a-green-velvet-robe/) [Kat Falls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kat-falls/) > [“Terror builds inside him. The reality that tonight will be his last leaves a sour taste in his mouth. The Tainted will eat him,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-kreitzer/terror-builds-inside-him-the-reality-that-tonight-will-be-his-last/) [Laura Kreitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-kreitzer/) > [I think people respond to dystopian stories because they're ways of acting out anxieties that we have and fears that we have about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/i-think-people-respond-to-dystopian-stories-because-they-re-ways-of/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [The paperweight was the room he was in, and the coral was Julia's life and his own, fixed in a sort of eternity at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-paperweight-was-the-room-he-was-in-and-the-coral-was-julia-s-life/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Kids' literature now is dystopian, you know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cameron-mitchell/kids-literature-now-is-dystopian-you-know/) [John Cameron Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cameron-mitchell/) > [Writers of feminist dystopian fiction are alert to the realities that grind down women's lives, that make the unthinkable suddenly thinkable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-alderman/writers-of-feminist-dystopian-fiction-are-alert-to-the-realities-that/) [Naomi Alderman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-alderman/) > [“But they promised us everyone would return someday…when it was safe.” Her voice cracked at the end. “You’re being stupid again. Trusting in what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-c-avey/but-they-promised-us-everyone-would-return-someday-when-it-was-safe/) [T.C. Avey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-c-avey/) [Browse all 283 Dystopian quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dystopian/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“They wept for humanity, those two, not for themselves. They could not bear that this should be the end. Ere silence was completed their hearts were opened, and they knew what had been important on the earth. Man, the flower of all flesh, the noblest of all creatures visible, man who had once made god in his image, and had mirrored his strength on the constellations, beautiful naked man was dying, strangled in the garments that he had woven. Century after century had he toiled, and here was his reward. Truly the garment had seemed heavenly at first, shot with colours of culture, sewn with the threads of self-denial. And heavenly it had been so long as man could shed it at will and live by the essence that is his soul, and the essence, equally divine, that is his body. The sin against the body - it was for that they wept in chief; the centuries of wrong against the muscles and the nerves, and those five portals by which we can alone apprehend - glozing it over with talk of evolution, until the body was white pap, the home of ideas as colourless, last sloshy stirrings of a spirit that had grasped the stars. ”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "E.M. Forster" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/they-wept-for-humanity-those-two-not-for-themselves-they-could-not/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dystopian" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/they-wept-for-humanity-those-two-not-for-themselves-they-could-not/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26e/e-m-forster-2-1148_dystopian_they-wept-for-humanity-those-two-not-for_2604300.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26e/e-m-forster-2-1148_dystopian_they-wept-for-humanity-those-two-not-for_2604300.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26e/e-m-forster-2-1148_dystopian_they-wept-for-humanity-those-two-not-for_2604300.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“They wept for humanity, those two, not for themselves. They could not bear that this should be the end. Ere…” — E.M. Forster", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "E.M. Forster", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“They wept for humanity, those two,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/they-wept-for-humanity-those-two-not-for-themselves-they-could-not/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/they-wept-for-humanity-those-two-not-for-themselves-they-could-not/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```