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
I can only guess that it made the world he went back to...strangely without meaning. Though he lived in it, though he even enjoyed it, it remained utterly remote. I think it had lost sense for him. In his heart was the reflection of a lovely dream that he could never quite recall.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on a person's struggle to find meaning in a world that feels distant despite their enjoyment of it.
In this quote by W. Somerset Maugham, the author contemplates the disconnection between a person's inner life, filled with dreams and memories, and the outer world, which appears devoid of meaning. It suggests that even when one experiences joy and participates in life, there can still be an underlying sense of estrangement, as if the true essence of existence has faded away, leaving just a fragile recollection of happiness that is elusive and often forgotten.
Themes
MeaningDisconnectionDreamExistenceReflection
In practice
Example use cases
During a philosophy lecture discussing the nature of reality.
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.
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.
W. Somerset MaughamRead
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