Personal relations are the important thing for ever and ever, and not this outer life of telegrams and anger.
E. M. ForsterRead
When that strange race nears the dust and is condemned as untouchable, then nature remembers the physical perfection that she accomplished elsewhere, and throws out a god-not many, but one here and there, to prove to society how little its categories impress her.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that societal labels are insignificant to nature, which can produce exceptional individuals regardless of human classifications.
E. M. Forster's quote reflects on the idea that societal constructs and categories, such as those that lead to discrimination and judgment, are trivial in the larger scheme of nature. It posits that nature can remember its achievements and will occasionally produce extraordinary individuals to challenge these narrow societal views, illustrating that true worth is not defined by arbitrary human classifications.
Themes
SocietyNaturePerfectionIndividualityCategories
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech advocating for diversity, one could remind the audience that nature challenges societal labels by producing unique individuals.
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.
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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.
E. M. ForsterRead
One person with passion is better than forty people merely interested.
E. M. ForsterRead
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