W. Somerset Maugham Quotes
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The Riviera isn't only a sunny place for shady people.
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When he sacrifices himself man for a moment is greater than God, for how can God, infinite and omnipotent, sacrifice himself?
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It's always difficult to make conversation with a drunk, and there's no denying it, the sober are at a disadvantage with him.
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Illusions are like umbrellas - you no sooner get them than you lose them, and the loss always leaves a little painful wound.
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There are many foolish people in the world and when a man in a rather high position puts on no frills, slaps them on the back, and tells them he'll do anything in the world for them, they are very likely to think him clever.
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Now the answer ... is plain, but it is so unpalatable that most men will not face it. There is no reason for life and life has no meaning.
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If nobody spoke unless he had something to say, the human race would very soon lose the use of speech.
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Oh, it's always the same,' she sighed, 'if you want men to behave well to you, you must be beastly to them; if you treat them decently they make you suffer for it.
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There are times when I look over the various parts of my character with perplexity. I recognize that I am made up of several persons and that the person that at the moment has the upper hand will inevitably give place to another. But which is the real one? All of them or none?
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Most people are such fools that it is really no great compliment to say that someone is above the average.
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In heaven, when the blessed use the telephone they will say what they have to say and not a word besides.
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Her tears were partly tears of happiness, for she felt that the strangeness between them was gone. She loved him now with a new love because he had made her suffer.
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Heaven knows what pains the author has been at, what bitter experience he has endured and what heartache suffered, to give some chance reader a few hours' relaxation or to while away the tedium of a journey.
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We find things beautiful because we recognize them and contrariwise we find things beautiful because their novelty surprises us.
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There is no more merit in being able to attach a correct description to a picture than in being able to find out what is wrong with a stalled motorcar. In each case it is special knowledge.
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You're beginning to dislike me, aren't you? Well, dislike me. It doesn't make any difference to me now.
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A novelist must preserve a childlike belief in the importance of things which common sense considers of no great consequence.
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Has it occurred to you that transmigration is at once an explanation and a justification of the evil of the world? If the evils we suffer are the result of sins committed in our past lives, we can bear them with resignation and hope that if in this one we strive toward virtue out future lives will be less afflicted.
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Life is really very fantastic, and one has to have a peculiar sense of humour to see the fun of it. [Virtue]
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You cannot write well or much (and I venture the opinion that you cannot write well unless you write much) unless you form a habit.
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I know that I shall die struggling for breath, and I know that I shall be horribly afraid. I know that I shall not be able to keep myself from regretting bitterly the life that has brought me to such a pass; but I disown that regret. I now, weak, old, diseased, poor, dying, hold still my soul in my hands, and I regret nothing.
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The average American can get into the kingdom of heaven much more easily than he can get into the Boulevard St. Germain.
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There is no need for the writer to eat a whole sheep to be able to tell you what mutton tastes like. It is enough if he eats a cutlet. But he should do that.
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When a woman loves you she's not satisfied until she possesses your soul. Because she's weak, she has a rage for domination, and nothing less will satisfy her.