W. Somerset Maugham Quotes
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The writer of prose can only step aside when the poet passes.
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The trouble with young writers is that they are all in their sixties.
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A god that can be understood is not a god.
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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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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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If you don't change your beliefs, your life will be like this forever. Is that good news?
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Tolerance is another word for indifference.
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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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I don't think of the past. The only thing that matters is the everlasting present.
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To eat well in England, you should have a breakfast three times a day.
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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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Sentimentality is the only sentiment that rubs you the wrong way.
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The love that lasts longest is the love that is never returned.
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Money is like a sixth sense without which you cannot make a complete use of the other five.
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It is salutary to train oneself to be no more affected by censure than by praise.
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I forget who it was that recommended men for their soul’s good to do each day two things they disliked: it was a wise man, and it is a precept that I have followed scrupulously; for every day I have got up and I have gone to bed.
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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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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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Considering how foolishly people act and how pleasantly they prattle, perhaps it would be better for the world if they talked more and did less.
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The writer is more concerned to know than to judge.
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Conscience is the guardian in the individual of the rules which the community has evolved for its own preservation.
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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 was astonished to see him in Baghdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.
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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.