“Most of us will be eclectics to this side or that according to our temperament. The human mind is not a dignified organ, and I do not see how we can exercise it sincerely except through eclecticism.”
Source: Aspects of the Novel (1927), Chapter Seven: Prophecy
Context: Most of us will be eclectics to this side or that according to our temperament. The human mind is not a dignified organ, and I do not see how we can exercise it sincerely except through eclecticism. And the only advice I would offer my fellow eclectics is: "Do not be proud of your inconsistency. It is a pity, it is a pity that we should be equipped like this. It is a pity that Man cannot be at the same time impressive and truthful."
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E.M. Forster 200
English novelist 1879–1970Related quotes
Rouault, Georges. "Climat pictural." La Renaissance. XX, no. 10-12. (1937)
Variant translation: Anybody can rebel. But to obey in silence, an inner calling to search lifelong without impatience for the means of expression adequate to us... that is much more difficult.
Quotes, 1930-1940
Vol. 2, Ch. 3, § 39
Parerga and Paralipomena (1851), Counsels and Maxims
Source: Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
Variant: Nothing will surprise us more than when we get to heaven and see the Father and realize how well we know Him and how familiar His face is to us.
Citizens Advice Bureaux (August 15, 2007)
Source: The Functions of the Executive (1938), p. 11
Academy of Achievement interview (1991)
Context: Why do I see things differently from the way other people see them? Why do I pursue the questions that I pursue, even if others regard them as, as they say, "controversial?" Which merely means that they have a difference of opinion. They see things differently. I am interested both in nature, and in the human side of nature, and how the two can be brought together, and effectively used.
