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
Beauty is something wonderful and strange that the artist fashions out of the chaos of the world in the torment of his soul.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Beauty is created by artists from the chaotic experiences of life and their inner struggles.
This quote by W. Somerset Maugham suggests that beauty transcends mere aesthetics; it is a profound creation that arises from the tumultuous chaos of life and the emotional turmoil experienced by the artist. Maugham implies that artists channel their personal challenges and the disorder present in the world into their work, crafting something extraordinary and meaningful from it.
Themes
BeautyArtChaosSoulCreation
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about creativity, one might use this quote to illustrate the depth of emotional experiences that inform great art.
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.
W. Somerset MaughamRead
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.
W. Somerset MaughamRead
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.
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
Similar quotes
Truly great images make all the other millions of images you look at unimportant. You gotta look at an image and understand it in a nanosecond.
George LoisRead
You're never quite sure where the song is going, because you might not find the word to rhyme with the end of the line. You have to find associative meaning to get you there. So it's rather like doing a crossword puzzle backwards. A kind of strange, three-dimensional, abstract crossword puzzle.
Annie LennoxRead
Music is...the coordination between man and time.
Igor StravinskyRead
I think the drummer should sit back there and play some drums, and never mind about the tunes. Just get up there and wail behind whoever is sitting up there playing the solo. And this is what is lacking, definitely lacking in music today.
Buddy RichRead
All the writing elements are the same. You need to tell a good story... You've got good characters... People think there's some dramatic difference between writing 'Little Bear' and the 'Hunger Games,' and as a writer, for me, there isn't.
Suzanne CollinsRead
Paris... is a world meant for the walker alone, for only the pace of strolling can take in all the rich (if muted) detail.
Edmund WhiteRead