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In every human being one or the other of these two instincts is predominant: the active or positive instinct to offer hospitality, the negative or passive instinct to accept it. And either of these instincts is so significant of character that one might as well say that mankind is divisible into two great classes: hosts and guests.

— Max Beerbohm And Even Now (1920)

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More quotes by Max Beerbohm

All fantasy should have a solid base in reality.

Zuleika Dobson (1911)

I am a Tory Anarchist. I should like every one to go about doing just as he pleased — short of altering any of the things to which I have grown accustomed.

And Even Now (1920)

The dullard's envy of brilliant men is always assuaged by the suspicion that they will come to a bad end.

Zuleika Dobson (1911)

Most women are not so young as they are painted.

A Defense of Cosmetics (1895)

Zuleika, on a desert island, would have spent most of her time in looking for a man's footprint.

Zuleika Dobson (1911)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Max Beerbohm (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.