The common idea that success spoils people by making them vain, egotistic and self-complacent is erroneous; on the contrary it makes them, for the most part, humble, tolerant and kind.
W. Somerset MaughamRead
No author can create a character out of nothing. He must have a model to give him a starting point; but then his imagination goes to work, he builds him up, adding a trait here, a trait there, which his model did not possess.
Interpretation
What this quote means
A character in literature is inspired by real-life models, but creativity allows for unique development beyond those models.
This quote by W. Somerset Maugham highlights the creative process of character development in writing, emphasizing that while authors base their characters on real-life inspirations, their imagination plays a crucial role in transforming these initial models into complex and original personas. The interplay between inspiration and creativity is fundamental to the craft of storytelling, allowing writers to fill their characters with unique traits and depths that can transcend their real-life counterparts.
Themes
CharacterImaginationCreativityWritingLiterature
In practice
Example use cases
In a writing workshop, when discussing character development, this quote can illustrate the importance of inspiration and imagination.
More from W. Somerset Maugham
All quotes →Cronshaw stopped for a moment to drink. He had pondered for twenty years the problem whether he loved liquor because it made him talk or whether he loved conversation because it made him thirsty.
W. Somerset MaughamRead
Are you sure you can prevent yourself from falling in love one of these days? Such things do happen, you know, even to the most prudent men.' Simon gave him a strange, one might even have thought a hostile, look. I should tear it out of my heart as I'd wrench out of my mouth a rotten tooth.
W. Somerset MaughamRead
I don't think of the past. The only thing that matters is the everlasting present.
W. Somerset MaughamRead
The world is quickly bored by the recital of misfortune, and willing avoids the sight of distress.
W. Somerset MaughamRead
There in the mist, enormous, majestic, silent and terrible, stood the Great Wall of China. Solitarily, with the indifference of nature herself, it crept up the mountain side and slipped down to the depth of the valley.
W. Somerset MaughamRead
Similar quotes
I write about characters that interest me. And I don't think of my books as being forms of entertainment.
Jhumpa LahiriRead
I think writer is a word without gender, and a good writer observes, absorbs, hopefully empathizes then translates that into character and story. You don’t have to do or be or have experienced, traveled to, but you have to imagine all of that, very well–and believe it completely during the bubble of the work.
Nora RobertsRead
Her other mother smiled brightly and the hair on her head drifted like plants under the sea.
Neil GaimanRead
Language in fiction is made up of equal parts meaning and music. The sentences should have rhythm and cadence, they should engage and delight the inner ear.
Michael CunninghamRead
All my big mistakes are when I try to second-guess or please an audience. My work is always stronger when I get very selfish about it.
David BowieRead
What happens in a fantasy can be more involving than what happens in life, and thank goodness for that.
Roger EbertRead