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
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.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the awe-inspiring presence of the Great Wall of China, emphasizing its grandeur and the indifferent passage of time in nature.
W. Somerset Maugham's quote vividly captures the imposing and serene magnificence of the Great Wall of China as it integrates into the natural landscape. The description suggests that, like nature, the Great Wall stands timeless, enduring through the mists of time and weathering the elements, signifying both human achievement and the ruthless indifference of nature's forces.
In practice
In a presentation about ancient architecture, this quote can highlight the Great Wall's majestic presence.
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.
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.
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.
I don't think of the past. The only thing that matters is the everlasting present.
The world is quickly bored by the recital of misfortune, and willing avoids the sight of distress.
For the complete life, the perfect pattern includes old age as well as youth and maturity.
A river, though, has so many things to say that it is hard to know what it says to each of us.
The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough.
Nature is always behind the age
Four snakes gliding up and down a hollow for no purpose that I could see - not to eat, not for love, but only gliding.
Nature gave us pain as a messaging device to tell us that we are approaching, or that we have exceeded, our limits in some way.
Forests were the first temples of the Divinity, and it is in the forests that men have grasped the first idea of architecture.
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