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
Insensibly he formed the most delightful habit in the world, the habit of reading: he did not know that thus he was providing himself with a refuge from all the distress of life; he did not know either that he was creating for himself an unreal world which would make the real world of every day a source of bitter disappointment.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the dual nature of reading as both an escape and a potential source of disappointment in life.
W. Somerset Maugham's quote reflects on the transformative power of reading, suggesting that while it can provide a comforting escape from life's struggles, it may also lead to unrealistic expectations and a sense of disappointment when reality does not match the idealized worlds found in books. This duality indicates that reading is not just a pleasurable habit, but a complex interplay of refuge and reality.
Themes
ReadingHabitEscapeRealityBooksImagination
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the benefits of hobbies, one can use this quote to emphasize the importance of reading.
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.
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