The Painted Veil - W. Somerset Maugham

A shallow, vain young beauty marries without love and has an affair only to learn her lover is far less a man than her husband when it is too late.

Quotes:
p 88 Do you cease to love a person because you had been treated cruelly?

p 125 What was it in the human heart that made you despise a man because he loved you?

p 152  But it's loving that's the important thing, not being loved.

p 206 - Remember that it is nothing to do your duty, that is demanded of you and is no more meritorious than to wash your hands when they are dirty.  The only thing that counts is the love of duty; when love and duty are one then grace is in you and you will enjoy a happiness which passes all understanding.

This is a classic moral lesson on the shallowness of youth and the importance of recognizing the true nature of others.  I enjoyed it and recommend it, a quick read.


Published: 1925  Read: October 2014  Genre: Fiction

ISBN: 0-307-27777-1