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
The only important thing in a book is the meaning that it has for you.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The true value of a book lies in its personal significance to the reader.
This quote emphasizes that the interpretation and personal relevance of a book are far more important than its content or reception by others. Each reader brings their own experiences and emotions to a text, making the meaning unique to them, which underlines the subjective nature of literature and how it can resonate differently with individuals.
Themes
BooksMeaningReaderInterpretationLiterature
In practice
Example use cases
In a book club, discussing how a specific novel relates to one's own life experiences.
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.
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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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