English essayist & caricaturist (1872-1956)
There is much virtue in a window. It is to a human being as a frame is to a painting, as a proscenium to a play, as 'form' to literature. It strongly defines its content.
MAX BEERBOHM
"Fenestralia", Mainly on the Air
To say that a man is vain means merely that he is pleased with the effect he produces on other people. A conceited man is satisfied with the effect he produces on himself.
MAX BEERBOHM
Quia Imperfectum
Only the insane take themselves quite seriously.
MAX BEERBOHM
The Works of Max Beerbohm
The dullard's envy of brilliant men is always assuaged by the suspicion that they will come to a bad end.
MAX BEERBOHM
Zuleika Dobson
Vulgarity has its uses. Vulgarity often cuts ice which refinement scrapes at vainly.
MAX BEERBOHM
letter, May 21, 1921
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
And Even Now
All fantasy should have a solid base in reality.
MAX BEERBOHM
Zuleika Dobson
He was too much concerned with his own perfection ever to think of admiring any one else.
MAX BEERBOHM
Zuleika Dobson
He heard that whenever a woman was to blame for a disappointment, the best way to avoid a scene was to inculpate oneself.
MAX BEERBOHM
Zuleika Dobson
People who insist on telling their dreams are among the terrors of the breakfast table.
MAX BEERBOHM
Around Theatres
As a teacher, as a propagandist, Shaw is no good at all, even in his own generation. But as a personality, he is immortal.
MAX BEERBOHM
"A Cursory Conspectus of G.B.S", Around Theatres
The loveliest face in all the world will not please you if you see it suddenly eye to eye, at a distance of half an inch from your own.
MAX BEERBOHM
Zuleika Dobson
Reason and instinct have an inveterate habit of cancelling each other out.
MAX BEERBOHM
The Prince of Minor Writers: The Selected Essays of Max Beerbohm
To give an accurate and exhaustive account of that period would need a far less brilliant pen than mine.
MAX BEERBOHM
The Works of Max Beerbohm