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
An author spends months writing a book, and maybe puts his heart's blood into it, and then it lies about unread till the reader has nothing else in the world to do.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The dedication of an author can go unrecognized until the right moment for a reader arises.
W. Somerset Maugham's quote reflects on the emotional and temporal investment that authors put into their writing. It emphasizes the idea that despite the extensive effort and passion that goes into creating a book, the work may remain ignored until the circumstances align for a reader to appreciate it. This serves as a commentary on both the nature of literature and the unpredictable journey of an author's work into the hands of readers at the right moment in their lives.
Themes
WritingBooksReadingDedicationAuthors
In practice
Example use cases
Use this quote during a book launch to highlight the effort writers put into their work.
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.
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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.
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I don't think of the past. The only thing that matters is the everlasting present.
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The world is quickly bored by the recital of misfortune, and willing avoids the sight of distress.
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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
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