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 daresay one profits more by the mistakes one makes off one's own bat than by doing the right thing on somebody's else advice.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Learning from personal mistakes is more beneficial than following others' advice without understanding.
This quote emphasizes the importance of personal experience and learning through one's own errors. It suggests that individuals gain more valuable insights and growth from their own actions and mistakes than they would by simply adhering to the advice of others, which may not suit their unique situations or lead to personal development.
Themes
MistakesLearningExperienceAdvicePersonal Growth
In practice
Example use cases
During a workshop on leadership, this quote was used to encourage participants to embrace their failures as opportunities for growth.
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.
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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.
W. Somerset MaughamRead
The world is quickly bored by the recital of misfortune, and willing avoids the sight of distress.
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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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