Personal relations are the important thing for ever and ever, and not this outer life of telegrams and anger.
E. M. ForsterRead
Reverence is fatal to literature.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Reverence for literature stifles creativity and originality.
This quote by E. M. Forster suggests that holding literature in too high a regard can impede the creative process. When writers or readers approach literature with excessive reverence, they may become constrained by its traditions and expectations, rather than exploring new ideas and forms that can lead to genuine artistic expression.
Themes
LiteratureCreativityArtistic ExpressionOriginalityReverence
In practice
Example use cases
In a literary discussion about the boundaries of creativity, this quote can be used to emphasize the importance of innovation over tradition.
More from E. M. Forster
All quotes →A poem is true if it hangs together. Information points to something else. A poem points to nothing but itself.
E. M. ForsterRead
One must be fond of people and trust them if one is not to make a mess of life.
E. M. ForsterRead
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.
E. M. ForsterRead
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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