Quote #21

Most of us will be eclectics to this side or that according to our temperament. The human mind is not a dignified organ, and I do not see how we can exercise it sincerely except through eclecticism. And the only advice I would offer my fellow eclectics is: 'Do not be proud of your inconsistency. It is a pity, it is a pity that we should be equipped like this. It is a pity that Man cannot be at the same time impressive and truthful.'

More from E. M. Forster

  1. How can I tell what I think till I see what I say?
  2. If human nature does alter it will be because individuals manage to look at themselves in a new way. Here and there people - a very few peo…
  3. A man does not talk to himself quite truly - not even to himself: the happiness or misery that he secretly feels proceeds from causes that …
  4. [Tolerance] is just a makeshift, suitable for an overcrowded and overheated planet. It carries on when love gives out, and love generally g…
  5. If God could tell the story of the Universe, the Universe would become fictitious.
  6. Love is a great force in private life; it is indeed the greatest of all things; but love in public affairs does not work.
  7. A mirror does not develop because an historical pageant passes in front of it. It only develops when it gets a fresh coat of quicksilver - …
  8. Hardship is vanishing, but so is style, and the two are more closely connected than the present generation supposes.

All E. M. Forster quotes