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
It's a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Expecting the best from life can lead to achieving it.
This quote suggests that having high standards and refusing to settle for mediocrity can often result in achieving those high standards. It implies that our expectations shape our reality; by declaring our intent to pursue excellence, we align ourselves with opportunities that lead to success.
Themes
LifeSuccessExpectationsBestHigh Standards
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about setting goals, I might use this quote to encourage the audience to aim high.
More from W. Somerset Maugham
All quotes βCronshaw 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.
W. Somerset MaughamRead
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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