Personal relations are the important thing for ever and ever, and not this outer life of telegrams and anger.
E. M. ForsterRead
Either life entails courage, or it ceases to be life.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Life requires bravery and boldness; without these, it loses its essence.
E. M. Forster's quote emphasizes that courage is an essential component of truly living. Without the willingness to face challenges and risks, life becomes stagnant and devoid of meaning, suggesting that to fully experience existence, one must embrace bravery.
Themes
CourageLifeBraveryRiskExistence
In practice
Example use cases
During a commencement speech to inspire graduates about embracing challenges.
More from E. M. Forster
All quotes βA poem is true if it hangs together. Information points to something else. A poem points to nothing but itself.
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One must be fond of people and trust them if one is not to make a mess of life.
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Oxford is Oxford: not a mere receptacle for youth, like Cambridge. Perhaps it wants its inmates to love it rather than to love one another.
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The fact is we can only love what we know personally. And we cannot know much. In public affairs, in the rebuilding of civilization, something less dramatic and emotional is needed, namely tolerance.
E. M. ForsterRead
One person with passion is better than forty people merely interested.
E. M. ForsterRead
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Always stand on principle even if you stand alone.
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