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I believe in aristocracy... - if that is the right word, and if a democrat may use it. Not an aristocracy of power... but... of the sensitive, the considerate... Its members are to be found in all nations and classes, and all through the ages... there is a secret understanding between them when they meet. They represent the true human tradition, the one permanent victory of our queer race over cruelty and chaos. Thousands of them perish in obscurity, a few are great names. They are sensitive for others as well as themselves... considerate without being fussy, their pluck is not swankiness but the power to endure.

E. M. Forster#33

More from E. M. Forster

  1. A humanist has four leading characteristics - curiosity, a free mind, belief in good taste, and belief in the human race.

    Permalink to quote #32
  2. Two Cheers for Democracy: one because it admits variety and two because it permits criticism. Two cheers are quite enough: there is no occasion to give three.

    Permalink to quote #34
  3. The only books that influence us are those for which we are ready, and which have gone a little farther down our particular path than we have yet got ourselves.

    Permalink to quote #31