W. Somerset Maugham Quotes
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A soul is a troublesome possession, and when man developed it he lost the Garden of Eden.
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To eat well in England, you should have a breakfast three times a day.
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It was like making a blunder at a party; there was nothing to do about it, it was dreadfully mortifying, but it showed a lack of sense to ascribe too much importance to it.
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When I read a book I seem to read it with my eyes only, but now and then I come across a passage, perhaps only a phrase, which has a meaning for me, and it becomes part of me.
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The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit.
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You know that the Tasmanians, who never committed adultery, are now extinct.
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The day broke grey and dull. The clouds hung heavily, and there was a rawness in the air that suggested snow. A woman servant came into a room in which a child was sleeping and drew the curtains. She glanced mechanically at the house opposite, a stucco house with a portico, and went to the child's bed.
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It may be that if I lead the life I've planned for myself it may affect others; the effect may be no greater than the ripple caused by a stone thrown in a pond, but one ripple causes another.
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The writer of prose can only step aside when the poet passes.
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He knew that women appreciated neither irony nor sarcasm, but simple jokes and funny stories. He was amply provided with both.
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It's no use crying over spilt milk, because all of the forces of the universe were bent on spilling it.
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The world in general doesn't know what to make of originality; it is startled out of its comfortable habits of thought, and its first reaction is one of anger.
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I don't think of the past. The only thing that matters is the everlasting present.
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There are men whose sense of humour is so ill developed that they still bear a grudge against Copernicus because he dethroned them from the central position in the universe. They feel it a personal affront that they can no longer consider themselves the pivot upon which turns the whole of created things.
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I was astonished to see him in Baghdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.
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Death is a very dull, dreary affair, and my advice to you is to have nothing whatsoever to do with it.
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Nothing in the world is permanent, and we're foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we're still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it. If change is of the essence of existence one would have thought it only sensible to make it the premise of our philosophy.
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I made up my mind long ago that life was too short to do anything for myself that I could pay others to do for me.
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The passing moment is all we can be sure of; it is only common sense to extract its utmost value from it.
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The love that lasts longest is the love that is never returned.
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A god that can be understood is not a god.
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The subjunctive mood is in its death throes, and the best thing to do is to put it out of its misery as soon as possible.
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Few misfortunes can befall a boy which bring worse consequence than to have a really affectionate mother.
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Conscience is the guardian in the individual of the rules which the community has evolved for its own preservation.