 | Inspired by the life of Paul Gauguin, the Moon and Sixpence is an unforgettable study of a man possessed by the need to create — regardless of the cost to himself, and to others.
Excerpts:
"And man, subservient to interests he has persuaded himself are greater than his own, makes himself a slave to his taskmaster. He sits him on a seat of honor. At last, like a courtier fawning on the royal stick that is laid about his shoulders, he prides himself on the sensitiveness of his conscience. Then he has no words hard enough for the man who does not recognize its sway; for a member of society now, he realizes accurately enough that against him he is powerless."
"Do you mean that you could have forgiven him if he's left you for a woman, but not if he's left you for an idea? You think you're a match for the one, but against the other you're helpless?"
and some of the most magnificent writing I've ever come across:
"Why would you think that beauty, which is the most precious thing in the world, lies like a stone on the beach for the careless passer-by to pick up idly? Beauty is something wonderful and strange and the artist fashions out of the chaos of the world in the torment of his soul. And when he has made it, it is not given to all to know it. To recognize it you must repeat the adventure of the artist. It is a melody that he sings to you, and to hear it again in your own heart you want knowledge and sensitiveness and imagination."
I'm not saying that this book is in all respects the epitome of Objectivism but it certainly has its moments.
Sam
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The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham
