Only mediocrity can be trusted to be always at its best. Genius must always have lapses proportionate to its triumphs. Max Beerbohm More Quotes by Max Beerbohm More Quotes From Max Beerbohm When hospitality becomes an art it loses its very soul. Max Beerbohm house-guestssoulart Nobody ever died of laughter. Max Beerbohm happinesslifefunny People are either born hosts or born guests. Max Beerbohm hostguestspeople It is a part of English hypocrisy or English reserve, that whilst we are fluent enough in grumbling about small inconveniences, we insist on making light of any great difficulties or grief's that may beset us. Max Beerbohm griefhypocrisylight Sometimes I feel that I am a natural born genius in a field of human endeavor that hasn't been invented yet Max Beerbohm geniusfieldssometimes Most women are not as young as they are painted. Max Beerbohm womenmaturityyoung I have known no man of genius who had not to pay, in some affliction or defect, either physical or spiritual, for what the gods had given him. Max Beerbohm geniusspiritualmen The dullard's envy of brilliant men is always assuaged by the suspicion that they will come to a bad end. Max Beerbohm greatnessinspirationalmen For a young man, sleep is a sure solvent of distress. There whirls not for him in the night any so hideous phantasmagoria as will not become, in the clarity of the next morning, a spruce procession for him to lead. Brief the vague horror of his awakening; memory sweeps back to him, and he sees nothing dreadful after all. "Why not?" is the sun's bright message to him, and "Why not indeed?" his answer. Max Beerbohm sleepmorningmemories I may be old fashioned, but I am right. Max Beerbohm old-fashionedmay To mankind in general Macbeth and Lady Macbeth stand out as the supreme type of all that a host and hostess should not be. Max Beerbohm lady-macbethhoststanding-out Not philosophy, after all, not humanity, just sheer joyous power of song, is the primal thing in poetry. Max Beerbohm humanitysongphilosophy True dandyism is the result of an artistic temperament working upon a fine body within the wide limits of fashion. Max Beerbohm fashionbodylimits All fantasy should have a solid base in reality. Max Beerbohm fantasyshould-havereality To destroy is still the strongest instinct of our nature. Max Beerbohm natural-instinctstrongestnature In every human being one or the other of these two instincts is predominant: the active or positive instinct to offer hospitality, the negative or passive instinct to accept it. And either of these instincts is so significant of character that one might as well say that mankind is divisible into two great classes: hosts and guests. Max Beerbohm classcharactertwo Women who love the same man have a kind of bitter freemasonry. Max Beerbohm bitterlovemen The delicate balance between modesty and conceit is popularity. Max Beerbohm popularitymodestybalance Great men are but life-sized. Most of them, indeed, are rather short. Max Beerbohm great-menmen The literary gift is a mere accident - is as often bestowed on idiots who have nothing to say worth hearing as it is denied to strenuous sages. Max Beerbohm sageidiothearing
