QuoteProject
They had nothing in common but the English language.
E. M. Forster
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

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.

Themes

LanguageCommunicationConnectionCultureRelationships

In practice

Example use cases

Using this quote in a presentation about the importance of language in multicultural settings.

More from E. M. Forster

Personal relations are the important thing for ever and ever, and not this outer life of telegrams and anger.
E. M. ForsterRead
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

Similar quotes

But maybe, underneath, she loves him too much. Maybe it's her excessive love that pushes him away.
Margaret AtwoodRead
If you care about somebody, you should want them to be happy. Even if you wind up being left out.
Stephen ChboskyRead
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.
Min Jin LeeRead
Sometimes you only need to have a few words with a person to know you would like to have many more.
Roger EbertRead
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?
Sam LevensonRead
Please be polite. Nothing in life should erode the habit of saying thank you to people or praising them.
Richard BransonRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.