--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Surely the only sound foundation for a…" description: "\"Surely the only sound foundation for a civilization is a sound state of mind.\" — E. M. Forster" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd1/e-m-forster-1118_civilization_surely-the-only-sound-foundation-for-a-c_1226351.png" --- # Surely the only sound foundation for a civilization is a… ![“Surely the only sound foundation for a civilization is a sound state of mind.” quote by E. M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd1/e-m-forster-1118_civilization_surely-the-only-sound-foundation-for-a-c_1226351.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd1/e-m-forster-1118_civilization_surely-the-only-sound-foundation-for-a-c_1226351.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd1/e-m-forster-1118_civilization_surely-the-only-sound-foundation-for-a-c_1226351.png) > “Surely the only sound foundation for a civilization is a sound state of mind.” [E. M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A stable society depends on the mental health of its individuals. **In simple terms:** Healthy minds build stable societies. Key Takeaway Prioritize mental well‑being. Themes society psychology stability Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - education - public policy - community building Key Concepts collective health social cohesion Questions to Reflect On - What policies support mental health at scale? - How does individual well‑being affect community resilience? A Different Perspective Mental health alone may not fix systemic issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Sound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound/) [State of mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/state-of-mind/) ## Related quotes > [“A sound state of mind cannot live with an unsound state of mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vinod-varghese-antony/a-sound-state-of-mind-cannot-live-with-an-unsound-state-of-mind/) [Vinod Varghese Antony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vinod-varghese-antony/) > [Sound: always in a state of emergence or decay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-toop/sound-always-in-a-state-of-emergence-or-decay/) [David Toop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-toop/) > [The foundation of any and every civilization, including our own, is private ownership of the means of production. Whoever wishes to criticize modern civilization,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/the-foundation-of-any-and-every-civilization-including-our-own-is/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [“Honesty shakes the foundation of civilization.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-dodd/honesty-shakes-the-foundation-of-civilization/) [Christina Dodd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-dodd/) > [God established the family as the foundation of civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-evans/god-established-the-family-as-the-foundation-of-civilization/) [Tony Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-evans/) > [The foundation of all civilization is loitering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-renoir/the-foundation-of-all-civilization-is-loitering/) [Jean Renoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-renoir/) > [I think leadership is creating a state of mind in others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-mikulski/i-think-leadership-is-creating-a-state-of-mind-in-others/) [Barbara Mikulski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-mikulski/) > [NVC gives us tools and understanding to create a more peaceful state of mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-b-rosenberg/nvc-gives-us-tools-and-understanding-to-create-a-more-peaceful-state/) [Marshall B. Rosenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-b-rosenberg/) > [I do not believe in struggle. Struggle is a state of mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kubra-sait/i-do-not-believe-in-struggle-struggle-is-a-state-of-mind/) [Kubra Sait](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kubra-sait/) > [“You have become her sadness and live in a different state of mind”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dostoyevsky/you-have-become-her-sadness-and-live-in-a-different-state-of-mind/) [Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dostoyevsky/) > [“I would like to meet myself sometime to see how I would look to myself. But I'd have to be in an extremely good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/multatuli/i-would-like-to-meet-myself-sometime-to-see-how-i-would-look-to/) [Multatuli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/multatuli/) > [“Beyond the silver span of the motor bridge lay basins of cracked mud the size of ballrooms - models of a state of mind,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard-2/beyond-the-silver-span-of-the-motor-bridge-lay-basins-of-cracked-mud/) [J.G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard-2/) > [“Fun is not an activity, it is a state of mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/fun-is-not-an-activity-it-is-a-state-of-mind/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [A state of mind is something that one assumes. It cannot be purchased, it must be created.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/a-state-of-mind-is-something-that-one-assumes-it-cannot-be-purchased/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [The state of mind which I put myself when I tell a story is one in which superstition flourishes very easily. And I welcome…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/the-state-of-mind-which-i-put-myself-when-i-tell-a-story-is-one-in/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) ## 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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster/do-not-be-proud-of-your-inconsistency-it-is-a-pity-it-is-a-pity-that/) [E. M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster/) > [Reverence is fatal to literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster/reverence-is-fatal-to-literature/) [E. M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster/) > [This element of surprise or mystery - the detective element as it is sometimes rather emptily called - is of great importance in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster/this-element-of-surprise-or-mystery-the-detective-element-as-it-is/) [E. M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster/) > [It is so difficult - at least, I find it difficult - to understand people who speak the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster/it-is-so-difficult-at-least-i-find-it-difficult-to-understand-people/) [E. M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster/) > [Railway termini are our gates to the glorious and the unknown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster/railway-termini-are-our-gates-to-the-glorious-and-the-unknown/) [E. M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster/) > [Ah, but you see, I didn't want to be fair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster/ah-but-you-see-i-didn-t-want-to-be-fair/) [E. M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster/) > [The final test for a novel will be our affection for it, as it is the test of our friends, and of anything else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster/the-final-test-for-a-novel-will-be-our-affection-for-it-as-it-is-the/) [E. M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster/) > [America is rather like life. You can usually find in it what you look for It will probably be interesting, and it is sure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster/america-is-rather-like-life-you-can-usually-find-in-it-what-you-look/) [E. M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster/) > [A critic has no right to the narrowness which is the frequent prerogative of the creative artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster/a-critic-has-no-right-to-the-narrowness-which-is-the-frequent/) [E. M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster/) > [All men are equal — all men, that is to say, who possess umbrellas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster/all-men-are-equal-all-men-that-is-to-say-who-possess-umbrellas/) [E. M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster/) > [Before the civil war, Pottibakia was a normal member of the Comity of Nations. She erected tariff walls, broke treaties, persecuted minorities, obstructed at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster/before-the-civil-war-pottibakia-was-a-normal-member-of-the-comity-of/) [E. M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster/) > [Chess is a forcing house where the fruits of character can ripen more fully than in life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster/chess-is-a-forcing-house-where-the-fruits-of-character-can-ripen-more/) [E. M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster/) > [I distrust Great Men... I believe in aristocracy, though... Its members are to be found in all nations and classes, and all through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster/i-distrust-great-men-i-believe-in-aristocracy-though-its-members-are/) [E. M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster/) > [Liking one person is an extra reason for liking another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster/liking-one-person-is-an-extra-reason-for-liking-another/) [E. M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster/) > [We are not concerned with the very poor. They are unthinkable, and only to be approached by the statistician or the poet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster/we-are-not-concerned-with-the-very-poor-they-are-unthinkable-and-only/) [E. M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster/) [Explore all 287 E. M. Forster quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster/) ## More Civilization quotes > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Sentiment is the mightiest force in civilization; not sentimentality, but sentiment. Women will bring this into politics. Home, sweet home, is as powerful on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-ellen-foster/sentiment-is-the-mightiest-force-in-civilization-not-sentimentality/) [Judith Ellen Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-ellen-foster/) > [Violence is not necessary to destroy a civilization. Each civilization dies from indifference toward the unique values which created it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-gomez-davila/violence-is-not-necessary-to-destroy-a-civilization-each-civilization/) [Nicolas Gomez Davila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-gomez-davila/) > [“The voice in the head that never stops speaking becomes a civilization that is obsessed with form and therefore knows nothing of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-voice-in-the-head-that-never-stops-speaking-becomes-a/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [We released 400,000 classified documents, the most extraordinary history of a war to ever have been released in our civilization. Those documents cover 109,000…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-assange/we-released-400-000-classified-documents-the-most-extraordinary/) [Julian Assange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-assange/) > [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Whenever we touch nature we get clean. People who have got dirty through too much civilization take a walk in the woods, or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/whenever-we-touch-nature-we-get-clean-people-who-have-got-dirty/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/the-invention-of-gunpowder-and-the-constant-improvement-of-firearms/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentimentin mankind; so that the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/another-success-is-the-post-office-with-its-educating-energy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“The mission is, not to replace old world mindlessness with new world mindlessness, but to put an end to all forms of brainless authoritarianism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-mission-is-not-to-replace-old-world-mindlessness-with-new-world/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Our civilization, bequeathed to us by fierce adventurers, eaters of meat and hunters, is so full of hurry and combat, so busy about many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/our-civilization-bequeathed-to-us-by-fierce-adventurers-eaters-of/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Coal lay in ledges under the ground since the Flood, until a laborer with pick and windlass brings it to the surface. We may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/coal-lay-in-ledges-under-the-ground-since-the-flood-until-a-laborer/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Once we allow ourselves to be disobedient to the test of an accountant's profit, we have begun to change our civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-keynes/once-we-allow-ourselves-to-be-disobedient-to-the-test-of-an/) [John Maynard Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-keynes/) > [Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-josiah-brewer/our-laws-and-our-institutions-must-necessarily-be-based-upon-and/) [David Josiah Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-josiah-brewer/) [Browse all 4,084 Civilization quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Surely the only sound foundation for a civilization is a sound state of mind.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "E. M. 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