That Somerset Maugham anthology . How destructive he is, venomous, pulling everything down in biting, corrosive cynicism. Yet somewhere deep down under all the conceit, sarcasm and snobbery is real quivering pain, helpless bewilderment at the inexplicable fact that human nature is . And what perplexes him is less the common, mean element in people than the goodness and kindness of wicked, vicious ones.
Ida Friederike Görres