“How silly men were! Their part in procreation was so unimportant; it was the woman who carried the child through long months of uneasiness and bore it with pain, and yet a man because of his momentary connection made such preposterous claims. Why should that make any difference to him in his feelings towards the child?”
The Painted Veil is a novel by W. Somerset Maugham, first published in 1925. It follows the story of Kitty Fane, a young and frivolous woman who marries a reserved bacteriologist, Walter, and moves with him to Hong Kong. After engaging in an affair, she is forced to accompany her husband to a remote Chinese village ravaged by a cholera epidemic. There, amid suffering and isolation, Kitty confronts her own flaws and undergoes a profound transformation, exploring themes of love, betrayal, redemption, and the search for meaning. The novel is known for its vivid portrayal of early 20th-century China and its psychological depth. more
W. Somerset Maugham was a British playwright known for his sharp wit and insightful portrayal of human nature. Born on January 25, 1874, and passing away on December 16, 1965, Maugham's plays often delved into the complexities of human relationships and the social dynamics of his era. more
“He was, he admitted, a man who liked to have his cake and eat it too.”
“The measure of a man is not so much how tall he stands but how low he kneels.”
“The only thing that powerful men feared above all else was a loss of that power.”
“Every man's measurement is determined by his responses when he is on his knees before God.”