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.
A woman can forgive a man for the harm he does her...but she can never forgive him for the sacrifices he makes on her account.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the complexity of forgiveness in relationships, particularly emphasizing that sacrifices can carry deep emotional weight.
W. Somerset Maugham's quote suggests that while a woman may be able to overlook the wrongs a man has committed against her, she finds it much harder to forgive the sacrifices he makes for her sake. This reflects the profound emotional implications that sacrifices carry, which may feel either burdensome or patronizing, complicating the dynamics of love and forgiveness in relationships.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion about love and sacrifice in a relationship, one could reference this quote to illustrate the complexities of emotional struggles.
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.
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.
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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