{
  "type": "book",
  "site": {
    "name": "Leafy Quotes",
    "language": "en",
    "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com"
  },
  "formats": "Every page has two versions with the same data: JSON (the page address + .json) and markdown (the page address + .md). Append .json or .md to any `url` in this document.",
  "title": "Cakes and Ale",
  "slug": "cakes-and-ale",
  "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/cakes-and-ale",
  "json": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/cakes-and-ale.json",
  "markdown": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/cakes-and-ale.md",
  "author": {
    "name": "William Somerset Maugham",
    "slug": "william-somerset-maugham",
    "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham"
  },
  "cover": "https://quivercdn.com/covers/vintage-digital/william-somerset-maugham/cakes-and-ale_978-14-0907-786-2-028f6773.webp",
  "quotes_count": 7,
  "quotes": [
    {
      "id": "e6b923fa-fa4e-46f2-9265-836a2e720d83",
      "slug": "its-very-hard",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/cakes-and-ale/its-very-hard",
      "text": "It's very hard to be a gentleman and a writer.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 157,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "writers",
          "slug": "writers",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writers"
        },
        {
          "name": "good manners",
          "slug": "good-manners",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/good-manners"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._Somerset_Maugham#Cakes_and_Ale:_Or,_The_Skeleton_in_the_Cupboard_(1930)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:27"
    },
    {
      "id": "a837f73e-a96a-467e-9076-747b10a7d9fb",
      "slug": "its-no-good",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/cakes-and-ale/its-no-good",
      "text": "It's no good trying to keep up old friendships. It's painful for both sides. The fact is, one grows out of people, and the only thing is to face it.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 14,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "friendship",
          "slug": "friendship",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/friendship"
        },
        {
          "name": "transience",
          "slug": "transience",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/transience"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._Somerset_Maugham#Cakes_and_Ale:_Or,_The_Skeleton_in_the_Cupboard_(1930)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:27"
    },
    {
      "id": "865b2c7b-c1f6-4020-8634-117053d864c5",
      "slug": "beauty-is-an-ecstasy",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/cakes-and-ale/beauty-is-an-ecstasy",
      "text": "Beauty is an ecstasy; it is as simple as hunger. There is really nothing to be said about it. It is like the perfume of a rose: you can smell it and that is all.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 140,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "beauty",
          "slug": "beauty",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/beauty"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._Somerset_Maugham#Cakes_and_Ale:_Or,_The_Skeleton_in_the_Cupboard_(1930)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:27"
    },
    {
      "id": "7e5908e0-0cc4-407f-920d-6357d3eb23c3",
      "slug": "the-writer-of-prose",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/cakes-and-ale/the-writer-of-prose",
      "text": "The writer of prose can only step aside when the poet passes...",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 184,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "writing",
          "slug": "writing",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing"
        },
        {
          "name": "poetry",
          "slug": "poetry",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poetry"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._Somerset_Maugham#Cakes_and_Ale:_Or,_The_Skeleton_in_the_Cupboard_(1930)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:27"
    },
    {
      "id": "6a4342e6-4340-4e8c-8fcf-4b646ad8c44d",
      "slug": "when-you-are",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/cakes-and-ale/when-you-are",
      "text": "...when you are young you take the kindness people show you as your right...",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 166,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "kindness",
          "slug": "kindness",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness"
        },
        {
          "name": "youth",
          "slug": "youth",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/youth"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._Somerset_Maugham#Cakes_and_Ale:_Or,_The_Skeleton_in_the_Cupboard_(1930)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:27"
    },
    {
      "id": "5ac63bbd-d0be-4a5f-a7e2-b164b45926f8",
      "slug": "hypocrisy-is-the",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/cakes-and-ale/hypocrisy-is-the",
      "text": "Hypocrisy is the most difficult and nerve-racking vice that any man can pursue; it needs an unceasing vigilance and a rare detachment of spirit. It cannot, like adultery or gluttony, be practised at spare moments; it is a whole-time job.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 15,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "hypocrisy",
          "slug": "hypocrisy",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hypocrisy"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._Somerset_Maugham#Cakes_and_Ale:_Or,_The_Skeleton_in_the_Cupboard_(1930)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:27"
    },
    {
      "id": "15f7df11-d9a2-4027-9458-c75c17c15a83",
      "slug": "you-know-what",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/cakes-and-ale/you-know-what",
      "text": "...you know what the critics are. If you tell the truth they only say you're cynical and it does an author no good to get a reputation for cynicism.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 137,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "criticism",
          "slug": "criticism",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/criticism"
        },
        {
          "name": "cynicism",
          "slug": "cynicism",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/cynicism"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._Somerset_Maugham#Cakes_and_Ale:_Or,_The_Skeleton_in_the_Cupboard_(1930)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:27"
    }
  ]
}