"It may be that beauty, like happiness and originality, is more likely to be obtained when it is not deliberately attempted."
What wishy-washy rhetorical nonsense!! The above sentence doesn't actually state anything.
The sentence has equal meaning if restated thusly: "It may be that the flying spaghetti monster is more likely to appear than the Great Pumpkin when one is not trying to find him."
Maugham, if you want to make a statement, then damnit, say something! Like this: "True beauty, happiness and originality are unobtainable through intention."
Once Maugham looses the passive voice and adverbs I'll take another look. Otherwise, it's sweet smelling crap.
"It may be that beauty, like happiness and originality, is more likely to be obtained when it is not deliberately attempted."
What wishy-washy rhetorical nonsense!! The above sentence doesn't actually state anything.
The sentence has equal meaning if restated thusly: "It may be that the flying spaghetti monster is more likely to appear than the Great Pumpkin when one is not trying to find him."
Maugham, if you want to make a statement, then damnit, say something! Like this: "True beauty, happiness and originality are unobtainable through intention."
Once Maugham looses the passive voice and adverbs I'll take another look. Otherwise, it's sweet smelling crap.
Pffthp! :>