Personal relations are the important thing for ever and ever, and not this outer life of telegrams and anger.
E. M. ForsterRead
But this time I'm not to blame; I want you to believe that. I simply slipped into those violets. No, I want to be really truthful. I am a little to blame. The sky, you know, was gold, and the ground all blue, and for a moment he looked like some one in a book.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The speaker reflects on their role in a situation, acknowledging their faults while also attributing part of the circumstance to external factors.
In this quote, E. M. Forster delves into the complexity of human emotions and relationships. The speaker grapples with accountability, recognizing their own minor culpability while also suggesting that the environment and circumstances played a significant role in their actions. This realization opens a dialogue about the interplay between personal responsibility and the impact of external influences on our decisions and perceptions.
Themes
AccountabilityResponsibilityEmotionsCircumstancesSelf-Reflection
In practice
Example use cases
During a seminar on personal growth, one could use this quote to illustrate the importance of self-awareness in decision-making.
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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