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 don't understand anything. Life is so strange. I feel like some one who's lived all his life by a duck-pond and suddenly is shown the sea. It makes me a little breathless, and yet it fills me with elation. I don't want to die, I want to live. I'm beginning to feel a new courage. I feel like one of those old sailors who set sail for undiscovered seas and I think my soul hankers for the unknown.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses a sense of wonder and excitement about life’s possibilities, akin to discovering the vastness of the sea after being confined to a small pond.
W. Somerset Maugham captures the essence of life's unpredictable nature and the exhilaration that comes with stepping out of one’s comfort zone. The analogy of moving from a duck-pond to the sea symbolizes a transition from the familiar to the unknown, evoking feelings of both anxiety and excitement. It suggests that embracing uncertainty can lead to personal growth and newfound courage, inspiring one to seek adventure and live fully despite life's strangeness.
Themes
LifeCourageUnknownAdventureGrowth
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can serve as inspiration during a graduation speech, encouraging graduates to embrace their future.
More from W. Somerset Maugham
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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.
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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.
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