--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I know that you're selfish, selfish…" description: "\"I know that you're selfish, selfish beyond words, and I know that you haven't the nerve of a rabbit, I know you're a liar and a humbug, I know that you..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/794/w-somerset-maugham-237_distraught_i-know-that-you-re-selfish-selfish-beyon_857091.jpg" --- # I know that you're selfish, selfish beyond words, and I… ![“I know that you're selfish, selfish beyond words, and I know that you haven't the nerve of a rabbit, I know you're a liar and a humbug, I know that you're utterly contemptible. And the tragic part is'--her face was on a sudden distraught with pain--'the tragic part is that notwithstanding I love…” quote by W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/794/w-somerset-maugham-237_distraught_i-know-that-you-re-selfish-selfish-beyon_857091.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/794/w-somerset-maugham-237_distraught_i-know-that-you-re-selfish-selfish-beyon_857091.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/794/w-somerset-maugham-237_distraught_i-know-that-you-re-selfish-selfish-beyon_857091.jpg) > “I know that you're selfish, selfish beyond words, and I know that you haven't the nerve of a rabbit, I know you're a liar and a humbug, I know that you're utterly contemptible. And the tragic part is'--her face was on a sudden distraught with pain--'the tragic part is that notwithstanding I love you with all my heart.” [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A lover accuses his partner of many flaws yet confesses deep love, highlighting contradictory emotions. **In simple terms:** Love coexists with harsh judgment. Key Takeaway Accept love’s complexity. Themes love betrayal self‑esteem contradiction Mood melancholic intense Type dramatic emotional When to use this quote - relationships - confession - self‑reflection Key Concepts psychology of love emotional conflict Questions to Reflect On - How do you reconcile love with contempt? - What does this reveal about self‑worth? A Different Perspective Love may be idealized, not fully realistic. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Liars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liars/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Nerves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nerves/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Tragedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragedy/) [Tragic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragic/) [Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women/) [You re a liar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you-re-a-liar/) ## Related quotes > [The humorist has a good eye for the humbug; he does not always recognize the saint.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/the-humorist-has-a-good-eye-for-the-humbug-he-does-not-always/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [It is pleasure that lurks in the practice of every one of your virtues. Man performs actions because they are good for him, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/it-is-pleasure-that-lurks-in-the-practice-of-every-one-of-your/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [Everyones a hypercrit and if you don't agree you're a liar as well](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-collins/everyones-a-hypercrit-and-if-you-don-t-agree-you-re-a-liar-as-well/) [Phil Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-collins/) > [When you're a liar, a person of low moral fortitude, really any explanation you need to be true can be true. Especially if you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-witwer/when-you-re-a-liar-a-person-of-low-moral-fortitude-really-any/) [Samuel Witwer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-witwer/) > [I ain't saying you're a liar, because that wouldn't be polite. But I'll tell you this, ma'am. 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Every Spaniard in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/i-was-recently-told-you-re-a-liar-when-i-said-to-somebody-i-walked/) [Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-illich/) > [For such, Being made beautiful overmuch, Consider beauty a sufficient end, Lose natural kindness and maybe The heart-revealing intimacy That chooses right, and never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/for-such-being-made-beautiful-overmuch-consider-beauty-a-sufficient/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [This lifeless heart..your love had brought it alive.and then it was your love,that made it distraught.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/destiny-dreams/this-lifeless-heart-your-love-had-brought-it-alive-and-then-it-was/) [Destiny Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/destiny-dreams/) > [At one point in the mid-Eighties I shared a promoter with the Smiths. One night, we were sitting backstage when Morrissey burst in, utterly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-merton/at-one-point-in-the-mid-eighties-i-shared-a-promoter-with-the-smiths/) [Paul Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-merton/) > [Evangelicals are distraught over the state of America because they have not been taught that we're aliens here.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/evangelicals-are-distraught-over-the-state-of-america-because-they/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) ## More by W. Somerset Maugham > [“A man thinks it quite natural that he should fall out of love with a woman, but it never strikes him for a moment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/a-man-thinks-it-quite-natural-that-he-should-fall-out-of-love-with-a/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“A man's work reveals him. 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Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“There is no more merit in having read a thousand books than in having ploughed a thousand fields.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/there-is-no-more-merit-in-having-read-a-thousand-books-than-in-having/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“I wanted to live again and again. I was willing to accept every sort of life, no matter what its pain and sorrow; I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/i-wanted-to-live-again-and-again-i-was-willing-to-accept-every-sort/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [In Hollywood, the women are all peaches. It makes one long for an apple occasionally.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/in-hollywood-the-women-are-all-peaches-it-makes-one-long-for-an-apple/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [Follow your inclinations with due regard to the policeman round the corner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/follow-your-inclinations-with-due-regard-to-the-policeman-round-the/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“His love became a prison from which he longed to escape, but he had not the strength merely to open the door-that was all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/his-love-became-a-prison-from-which-he-longed-to-escape-but-he-had/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [I did not believe him capable of love. That is an emotion in which tenderness is an essential part, but Strickland had no tenderness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/i-did-not-believe-him-capable-of-love-that-is-an-emotion-in-which/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [If only the good were a little less heavy-footed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/if-only-the-good-were-a-little-less-heavy-footed/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [Perfection has one grave defect: it is apt to be dull.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/perfection-has-one-grave-defect-it-is-apt-to-be-dull/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“A God that can be understood is no God. Who can explain the Infinite in words?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/a-god-that-can-be-understood-is-no-god-who-can-explain-the-infinite/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“My dear, you used to be quite a dish; now you're quite a tureen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/my-dear-you-used-to-be-quite-a-dish-now-you-re-quite-a-tureen/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“When people say they do not care what others thing of them, for the most part they deceive themselves”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/when-people-say-they-do-not-care-what-others-thing-of-them-for-the/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) [Explore all 840 W. Somerset Maugham quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) ## More Distraught quotes > [Evangelicals are distraught over the state of America because they have not been taught that we're aliens here.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/evangelicals-are-distraught-over-the-state-of-america-because-they/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) > [At one point in the mid-Eighties I shared a promoter with the Smiths. One night, we were sitting backstage when Morrissey burst in, utterly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-merton/at-one-point-in-the-mid-eighties-i-shared-a-promoter-with-the-smiths/) [Paul Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-merton/) > [This lifeless heart..your love had brought it alive.and then it was your love,that made it distraught.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/destiny-dreams/this-lifeless-heart-your-love-had-brought-it-alive-and-then-it-was/) [Destiny Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/destiny-dreams/) > [For such, Being made beautiful overmuch, Consider beauty a sufficient end, Lose natural kindness and maybe The heart-revealing intimacy That chooses right, and never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/for-such-being-made-beautiful-overmuch-consider-beauty-a-sufficient/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [“Ask if you would like to,’ he said, smiling, ‘Or if you prefer, we could just sit.’    ‘But I guess you’re not just sitting.’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-tebby-germaine/ask-if-you-would-like-to-he-said-smiling-or-if-you-prefer-we-could/) [Elizabeth Tebby Germaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-tebby-germaine/) > [Apparently, union bosses are so distraught about declining enrollments they will stoop to exploiting illegal workers. There is no doubt that this would hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lamar-s-smith/apparently-union-bosses-are-so-distraught-about-declining-enrollments/) [Lamar S. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lamar-s-smith/) > [“There is no depth that exceeds the reach of the God who is, at this very moment, seeking you out in the holes that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/there-is-no-depth-that-exceeds-the-reach-of-the-god-who-is-at-this/) [Craig D. 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You ask for signs in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lana-parrilla/over-the-months-i-kept-seeing-more-feathers-especially-at-moments/) [Lana Parrilla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lana-parrilla/) > [“… I went back to the stories people wrote about Him. 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Research shows that people who ruminate while sad or distraught are likely to feel besieged,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonja-lyubomirsky/the-combination-of-rumination-and-negative-mood-is-toxic-research/) [Sonja Lyubomirsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonja-lyubomirsky/) > [As a fan, I'm distraught, but as a cartoonist looking at new vacant spaces in 2400 newspapers, well, behind me, my cats are dancing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-adams/as-a-fan-i-m-distraught-but-as-a-cartoonist-looking-at-new-vacant/) [Scott Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-adams/) Browse all 41 Distraught quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I know that you're selfish, selfish beyond words, and I know that you haven't the nerve of a rabbit, I know you're a liar and a humbug, I know that you're utterly contemptible. 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