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
For men, as a rule, love is but an episode which takes place among the other affairs of the day, and the emphasis laid on it in novels gives it an importance which is untrue to life. There are few men to whom it is the most important thing in the world, and they are not the very interesting ones; even women, with whom the subject is of paramount interest, have a contempt for them.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Maugham suggests that love is often overemphasized in literature and is not as central in men's lives as commonly portrayed.
In this quote, W. Somerset Maugham critically examines the cultural portrayal of love, particularly in novels, arguing that for most men, love is merely a temporary distraction amidst their daily responsibilities. He proposes that while love may be significant for women, the stereotype of it being a man's foremost concern is misleading and often trivializes the complex nature of human relationships.
Themes
LoveRelationshipsMenLiteratureImportance
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the nature of relationships, this quote can highlight the contrast between literary depictions of love and real-life priorities.
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.
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