The interpretation of the title of the novel “the moon and Sixpence”

According to some sources, the title, the meaning of which is not explicitly revealed in the book, was taken from a review of Human Bondage in which the novel's protagonist, Philip Carey, is described as "so busy yearning for the moon that he never saw the sixpence at his feet." According to a 1956 letter from Maugham, "If you look on the ground in search of a sixpence, you don't look up, and so miss the moon."

Somerset Maugham adopted the phrase as the title of his next novel. The author explained its meaning in a note which was intended to precede the text, but which did not appear, '... In his childhood he was urged to make merry over the man who, looking for the moon, missed the sixpence at his feet, but having reached years of maturity he is not so sure that this was so great an absurdity as he was bidden to believe. Let him who will pick up the sixpence; to pursue the moon seems the most amusing diversion.'

But I am going to guess that "the moon and sixpence" sums up the main character's assets in this world - he has left behind a financially secure existence wherein he, arguably, had nothing, in order to become a much richer man. He has, in fact, given himself the moon, though he may have no more than a sixpence in his pocket.

"The Moon" – is an idealistic embodiment of the Art and Beauty, while “The Sixpence” is a simple human pleasures and relations between humans.