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 have an idea that the only thing which makes it possible to regard this world we live in without disgust is the beauty which now and then men create out of the chaos. The pictures they paint, the music they compose, the books they write, and the lives they lead. Of all these the richest in beauty is the beautiful life. That is the perfect work of art.
Interpretation
Beauty emerges from chaos through human creativity, enriching our perception of life.
W. Somerset Maugham expresses the notion that amidst the chaos of the world, it is human creativity—through art, music, literature, and the conduct of our lives—that provides relief and beauty, making existence bearable. The pinnacle of this beauty is the creation of a 'beautiful life,' which he considers the ultimate masterpiece, reflecting the power of human expression to transform and elevate our experience of reality.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of creativity in education.
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.
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.
I am seeking that dance which might be the divine expression of the human spirit through the medium of the body's movement.
Making art in America is about saving one's soul.
You don't know how much artists go through to make it look so easy. It's all in the practice.
I just wrote one song at a time. Kinda like an alcoholic. One day at a time.
I feel as though I've gotten to a point where I don't really want to set a book in any real place ever again.
The best way to execute French cooking is to get good and loaded and whack the hell out of a chicken.
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