Quotes From "Maurice" By E.m. Forster

They must live outside class, without relations or money; they must work and stick to each other till death. But England belonged to them. That, besides companionship, was their reward. Her air and sky were theirs, not the timorous millions' who own stuffy little boxes, but never their own souls. E.m. Forster

There was something better in life than this rub­bish, if only he could get to it–love–nobility–big spaces where passion clasped peace, spaces no science could reach, but they existed for ever, full of woods some of them, and arched with majestic sky and a friend.. . E.m. Forster

He educated Maurice, or rather his spirit educated Maurice's spirit, for they themselves became equal. Neither thought "Am I led; am I leading?" Love had caught him out of triviality and Maurice out of bewilderment in order that two imperfect souls might touch perfection. E.m. Forster

If you introduce the human figure you at once arouse either disgust or desire. E.m. Forster

Why children?' he asked. 'Why always children? For love to end where it begins is far more beautiful, and Nature knows it. E.m. Forster

People turned out to be alive. Hitherto he had supposed that they were what he pretended to be - flat pieces of cardboard stamped with a conventional design… there came by no process of reason a conviction that they were human beings with feelings akin to his own. E.m. Forster

He lived on, miserable and misunderstood, as before, and increasingly lonely. One cannot write those words too often: Maurice’s loneliness: it increased. E.m. Forster

The past is devoid of meaning like the present, and a refuge for cowards. E.m. Forster

He was not sure, but liked it. It recurred when they met suddenly or had been silent. It beckoned to him across intellect, saying, "This is all very well, you're clever, we know–but come! " It haunted him so that he watched for it while his brain and tongue were busy, and when it came he felt himself replying, "I'll come– I didn't know."" You can't help yourself now. You must come."" I don't want to help myself."" Come then." He did come. He flung down all the barriers–not at once, for he did not live in a house that can be destroyed in a day. E.m. Forster

Love had failed. Love was an emotion through which you occasionally enjoyed yourself. it could not do things. E.m. Forster

In time, Mr Hall, one gets to recognize that sneer, that hardness, for fornication extends far beyond the actual deed. Were it a deed only, I for one would not hold it anathema. But when the nations went a whoring they invariably ended by denying God, I think, and until all sexual irregularities and not some of them are penal the Church will never reconquer England. E.m. Forster

Maurice and Alec still roam the greenwood. E.m. Forster

I swear from the bottom of my heart I want to be healed. I want to be like other men, not this outcast whom nobody wants. E.m. Forster

He never even thought of tenderness and emotion; his considerations about Durham remained cold. Durham didn't dislike him, he was sure. That was all he wanted. One thing at a time. He didn't so much as have hopes, for hope distracts, and he had a great deal to see to. E.m. Forster

Too late... everything's always too late. E.m. Forster

A slow nature such as Maurice's appears insensitive, for it needs time even to feel. Its instinct is to assume that nothing either for good or evil has happened, and to resist the invader. Once gripped, it feels acutely, and its sensations in love are particularly profound. Given time, it can know and impart ecstasy; given time, it can sink to the heart of Hell. E.m. Forster

Fed by neither Heaven nor by Earth he was going forward .. . He hadn't a God or a lover--the two usual incentives to virtue. But on he struggled with his back to ease, because dignity demanded it. There was no one to watch him, nor did he watch himself, but struggles like his are the supreme achievements of humanity, and surpass any legends about Heavan. E.m. Forster

Did you ever dream you had a friend, Alec? Someone to last your whole life and you his. I suppose such a thing can’t really happen outside sleep. E.m. Forster

... And now we shan't be parted no more, and that's finished. E.m. Forster

... and someone he scarcely knew moved towards him and knelt beside him and whispered, 'Sir, was you calling out for me? ... Sir, I know ... I know, ' and touched him. E.m. Forster

... I since cricket match do long to talk with one of my arms around you, then place both arms round you and share with you, the above now seems sweeter to me than words can say. E.m. Forster

I am an unspeakable of the Oscar Wilde sort. E.m. Forster

It comes to this then: there always have been people like me and always will be, and generally they have been persecuted. E.m. Forster

She was as bored as her brother would have been, and had not his gift of listening beneath words. E.m. Forster