"Most of life is so dull that there……" — E. M. Forster
"Most of life is so dull that there is nothing to be said about it, and the books and talks that would describe it as interesting are obliged to exaggerate, in the hope of justifying their own existence. Inside its cocoon of work or social obligation, the human spirit slumbers for the most part, registering the distinction between pleasure and pain, but not nearly as alert as we pretend. There are periods in the most thrilling day during which nothing happens, and though we continue to exclaim, "I do enjoy myself", or , "I am horrified," we are insincere."
—
E. M. Forster
★
★
★
★
★
0.0 avg (0 ratings)
350 Quotes by E. M. Forster
E. M. Forster has 350 quotes on this site.
A few more worth reading:
-
Naked I came into the world, naked I shall go out of it! And a very good thing too, for…
-
It is not that the Englishman can't feel-it is that he is afraid to feel. He has been taught at…
-
Our final experience, like our first, is conjectural. We move between two darkness's.
-
Failure or success seems to have been allotted to men by their stars. But they retain the power of wriggling,…
-
The main facts in human life are five: birth, food, sleep, love and death." "We must be willing to let…
-
As long as learning is connected with earning, as long as certain jobs can only be reached through exams, so…
-
The idea that nations should love one another, or that business concerns or marketing boards should love one another, or…
-
Towns are excrescences, gray fluxions, where men, hurrying to find one another, have lost themselves.
-
Neanderthal man listened to stories, if one may judge by the shape of his skull. The primitive audience was an…
-
A novelist can shift view-point if it comes off. ... Indeed, this power to expand and contract perception (of which…
-
This element of surprise or mystery - the detective element as it is sometimes rather emptily called - is of…
-
The test of a round character is whether it is capable of surprising in a convincing way. If it never…
See all 350 quotes by E. M. Forster »
More Alert Quotes
This quote is filed under Alert Quotes,
one of 316 quotes in that category. Here are a few more:
-
If you have a priest that is pushing social justice, go find another parish. Go alert your bishop.
— Glenn Beck
-
Civilization exists precisely so that there may be no masses but rather men alert enough never to constitute masses.
— Georges Bernanos
-
I am sensible of the velocity of the moments, and entering that part of my head alert to the motion…
— Harold Brodkey
-
This change to a higher phase of alert is a signal to governments, to ministries of health and other ministries,…
— Margaret Chan
-
When I see someone who is starved, they don't look alert. They don't have boundless energy. If you're too skinny,…
— Kirstie Alley
-
I will! I am! I can! I will actualize my dream. I will press ahead. I will settle down and…
— Robert H. Schuller
-
Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the Government's purposes are beneficent. Men…
— Louis D. Brandeis
-
The land retains an identity of its own, still deeper and more subtle than we can know. Our obligation toward…
— Barry Lopez
-
With the exception of the instinct of self-preservation, the propensity for emulation is probably the strongest and most alert and…
— Thorstein Veblen
-
In the morn of life we are alert, we are heated in its noon, and only in its decline do…
— Walter Savage Landor
-
Restfulness is a quality for cattle; the virtues are all active, life is alert.
— Robert Louis Stevenson
-
Mindfulness is Buddha's word for meditation. By mindfulness he means: you should always remain alert, watchful. You should always remain…
— Rajneesh
See all 316 Alert Quotes »