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
If you can tell stories, create characters, devise incidents, and have sincerity and passion, it doesn't matter a damn how you write.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The essence of storytelling lies in the authenticity and emotional impact rather than in technical precision.
W. Somerset Maugham emphasizes that the heart of writing is the ability to convey sincere and passionate stories through compelling characters and incidents. This suggests that while writing style may vary, the genuine connection and creativity behind the storytelling are what truly resonate with the audience.
Themes
StorytellingWritingSincerityPassionCreativity
In practice
Example use cases
During a creative writing workshop, this quote can be used to encourage aspiring writers to focus on their passion for storytelling rather than their technical skills.
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
I'm not afraid of a big studio film; I trust my instincts. But for me, it's not really about box office. It's about looking back on your work and not having to apologize for it.
F. Gary GrayRead
I think art is a healing force, and if we give in to the joy that can be found in art, then we are able to sustain ourselves in spite of ourselves.
Ntozake ShangeRead
My goal as a writer is more to comfort than to disturb.
Joni MitchellRead
The things that affect you most deeply - the things that will destroy you if you don't sing about them - are the things that you often end up singing about. It's really just about saying those things that everybody thinks but no one will say and making a connection by uncovering these diamonds that are inside of all of us that no one wants to tell each other about.
Wayne CoyneRead
May what I do flow from me like a river, no forcing and no holding back, the way it is with children.
Rainer Maria RilkeRead
My parents said, Oh, he's going to be a director someday. I wanted to be an actor.
Quentin TarantinoRead