E. M. Forster, Selected Letters: Letter 136, to Malcolm Darling, 6 November 1914.
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The newspapers still talk about glory but the average man, thank God, has got rid of that illusion. It is a damned bore, with a stall mate as the most probable outcome, but one has to see it through, and see it through with the knowledge that whichever side wins, civilisation in Europe will be pipped for the next 30 years. Don't indulge in Romance here, Malcolm, or suppose that an era of jolly little nationalities is dawning. We shall be much too much occupied with pestilence and poverty to reconstruct.

— E. M. Forster on War

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "The newspapers still talk about glory but the average man, thank God, has got rid of that illusion. It is a damned bore, with a stall mate as the most probable outcome, but one has to see it through, and see it through with the knowledge that whichever side wins, civilisation in Europe will be pipped for the next 30 years. Don't indulge in Romance here, Malcolm, or suppose that an era of jolly little nationalities is dawning. We shall be much too much occupied with pestilence and poverty to reconstruct." in the context of "E. M. Forster, Selected Letters: Letter 136, to Malcolm Darling, 6 November 1914." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "War" (F) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
E. M. Forster

About E. M. Forster

Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 July 1970) was an English novelist, short story writer, and essayist.