H.M. Forester Quotes & Sayings

We're all teased or pressured into conforming to the all-levelling social norms of mediocrity. — H.M. Forester

There really is more to this world than meets the casual or untutored eye. — H.M. Forester

Can I tempt you? Go on, be a devil. — H.M. Forester

Now, sorcery rules the world. Of course, most don't call it sorcery; indeed, many would be horrified by such a notion. Instead, they use words like ideology, politics, defence, security, patriotism, commerce, industry, marketing, consumerism and belief. But where there is power-seeking, especially power over others or for oneself, though also over oneself, and be it wittingly or unwittingly conjured up, make no mistake: there is sorcery afoot. It just comes in different shades and colours, that's all. — H.M. Forester

There's nowhere else to escape to ... Except in a wooden box, that is. — H.M. Forester

Hey, lighten up ... This is only a game, you know. — H.M. Forester

Their methods were especially crude and most of these former friends were now born again model citizens; lobotomized; or burnt out shells. — H.M. Forester

Yes, we are in a real pickle. Welcome to the pan-galactic insane asylum. — H.M. Forester

Of course the reason that the Authorities have banned the stuff is not so much the detrimental effect on one's health, however genuine that might be, but rather that those who regularly partake in the illicit herb tend to lose all interest in playing the game by other people's rules. And that is in direct contravention of the Commandments, the first of which is: Thou shalt play the Game by the rules; the second being: Thou shalt not drop out of the Game. — H.M. Forester

The use of drugs is not an effective means of facilitating real escape. It merely gives that erroneous and illusive impression. Well, illusive with an I and elusive with an E. At best, narcotics do no more than promote bonhomie and give you a temporary taste of what freedom might be like; and drugs take you into another sub-level of, or sub-culture in, the same old game. The same old game, but with additional consequences. And at worst, well ... suffice it to say that you really, really do not want to go there. — H.M. Forester

Maybe like the never-ending stories within stories of the One Thousand and One Nights, life is dream within dream all the way through? — H.M. Forester

All you had to do was crack up and beg to see the Governor; grovel at his feet and admit to being a dissident; heartily repent your sins, and volunteer for elective brain surgery. — H.M. Forester

I? This is the very root of all evil. — H.M. Forester

Smoking is suicide by instalments. — H.M. Forester

A motto of many politicians, public servants and money bags: Ask not 'What can I do for you?' but 'What can I do you for? — H.M. Forester

Is that a banana in your lunch box, or are you just pleased to see me? — H.M. Forester

There are universal laws at work, even here. The Law of Attraction; the Law of Correspondence; and the Law of Karma. That is: like attracts like; as within, so without; and what goes around comes around. — H.M. Forester

Sorcery rules the world. Of course, most don't call it sorcery; indeed, many would be horrified by such a notion. — H.M. Forester

There was a great joke that was forever doing the rounds in the jail and it was probably funny not because it had a humorous punchline but because it was so very true at a deep psychological level. Put anyone in that jail and soon enough they'd actually become a cruel, twisted, sadistic and heartless thug. And some of the prisoners were just as bad. — H.M. Forester

Real patience is not the same as waiting impatiently for something for a long time. Patience is having patience with patience. — H.M. Forester

These technical impediments [ ... things like ignorance, impatience, unexamined assumptions, habit ... ] get in the way of what would otherwise occur or develop quite naturally, such as wakefulness, awareness, inspiration and infallible intuition. Things that should be our birth right. This preliminary stage, then, we call learning how to learn. — H.M. Forester

The worst of all was to be faced with the interrogation technique of Thirty Seconds. The interrogator would say something and you had to respond quickly, without once repeating yourself or using the personal pronoun. Very few dissidents could last the full thirty seconds, and a refusal to comply was taken as equal proof of dissidence. — H.M. Forester

All those old myths and legends and fairytales didn't just appear out of nowhere for no good reason, you know. They came about because there really is such a thing as magic or that it once flourished in the world. Or at least there is something extraordinary that people commonly refer to, or dismiss, as magic. — H.M. Forester

An angry man will find himself in an angry world, and a swindler will find himself in a world of thieves whom he dare not trust. Like attracts and mirrors like. — H.M. Forester

Red pill or blue pill? If only it were that simple. You've been watching the wrong movies. — H.M. Forester