Personal relations are the important thing for ever and ever, and not this outer life of telegrams and anger.
E. M. ForsterRead
There's enough sorrow in the world, isn't there, without trying to invent it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Avoid creating unnecessary problems when there is already enough sadness in the world.
E. M. Forster's quote highlights the importance of recognizing the existing suffering in the world and encourages individuals to refrain from adding to it through their own actions or thoughts. It serves as a reminder to focus on positivity and empathy rather than contributing to the burden of sorrow.
Themes
SorrowHappinessPositivityEmpathyKindness
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about mental health awareness.
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.
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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