Personal relations are the important thing for ever and ever, and not this outer life of telegrams and anger.
E. M. ForsterRead
The more highly public life is organized the lower does its morality sink.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Public life can be organized in a way that can compromise morality.
E. M. Forster's quote suggests that as society becomes more structured and regulated, the ethical standards of those involved often deteriorate. This implies that the complexities and demands of public life can lead to moral compromises and a decline in individual ethics as people prioritize organization over integrity.
Themes
MoralityPublic LifeEthicsSocietyOrganization
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of ethics in leadership.
More from E. M. Forster
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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.
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One person with passion is better than forty people merely interested.
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