Personal relations are the important thing for ever and ever, and not this outer life of telegrams and anger.
E. M. ForsterRead
A happy ending was imperative. I shouldn't have bothered to write otherwise. I was determined that in fiction anyway two men should fall in love and remain in it for the ever and ever that fiction allows, and in this sense, Maurice and Alec still roam the greenwood.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of happy endings in love stories, particularly for same-sex relationships.
E. M. Forster's quote suggests that in the realm of fiction, a happy ending is not just a preference but a necessity, especially when depicting the love between two men. He expresses a strong desire for these characters, Maurice and Alec, to experience a lasting love that transcends reality, highlighting the significance of representation and hope in literature.
Themes
LoveHappy EndingFictionRepresentationSame-Sex Love
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be shared during a pride event to emphasize the importance of love in all its forms.
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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