Personal relations are the important thing for ever and ever, and not this outer life of telegrams and anger.
E. M. ForsterRead
They had nothing in common but the English language.
Interpretation
The quote highlights how shared language can connect people despite differences.
E. M. Forster's quote suggests that even when individuals have vastly different backgrounds, beliefs, or cultures, the ability to communicate in a common language, such as English, can create a bond between them. This emphasizes the importance of language as a bridge that fosters understanding and connection among diverse groups.
In practice
Using this quote in a presentation about the importance of language in multicultural settings.
Personal relations are the important thing for ever and ever, and not this outer life of telegrams and anger.
A poem is true if it hangs together. Information points to something else. A poem points to nothing but itself.
One must be fond of people and trust them if one is not to make a mess of life.
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.
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.
One person with passion is better than forty people merely interested.
But maybe, underneath, she loves him too much. Maybe it's her excessive love that pushes him away.
If you care about somebody, you should want them to be happy. Even if you wind up being left out.
Koreans are worried about the Japanese right-wing people, who tend to be against foreigners. But the Koreans in Japan aren't even foreigners. They are essentially culturally Japanese. If a family has lived in Japan for three generations, it's absurd to see them as foreigners.
Sometimes you only need to have a few words with a person to know you would like to have many more.
When I was a boy I used to do what my father wanted. Now I have to do what my boy wants. My problem is: When am I going to do what I want?
Please be polite. Nothing in life should erode the habit of saying thank you to people or praising them.
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