W. Somerset Maugham Quotes - Page 19

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• There is no explanation for evil. It must be looked upon as a necessary part of the order of the universe. To ignore it is childish, to bewail it senseless.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Order, Evil, Atheism

  W. Somerset Maugham (1954). “Mr. Maugham Himself”

  21 Copy quote

• No egoism is so insufferable as that of the Christian with regard to his soul.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Christian, Soul, Atheism

  "A Writer's Notebook". Book by W. Somerset Maugham, 1949.

  9 Copy quote

• It is unsafe to take your reader for more of a fool than he is.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Fool, Reader, Unsafe

  "Ten Novels and Their Authors". Book by W. Somerset Maugham, 1954.

  7 Copy quote

• Cronshaw stopped for a moment to drink. He had pondered for twenty years the problem whether he loved liquor because it made him talk or whether he loved conversation because it made him thirsty.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Years, Twenties, Problem

  W. Somerset Maugham (2016). “Of Human Bondage (Diversion Classics)”, p.264, Diversion Books

  4 Copy quote

• Art is triumphant when it can use convention as an instrument of its own purpose.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Art, Purpose, Use

  W. Somerset Maugham (2008). “The Razor's Edge”, p.264, Random House

  4 Copy quote

• In business sharp practice sometimes succeeds, but in art honesty is not only the best but the only policy.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Art, Honesty, Practice

  4 Copy quote

• Our wise old church...has discovered that if you will act as if you believed belief will be given to you; if you pray with doubt, but pray with sincerity, your doubt will be dispelled; if you will surrender yourself to the beauty of that liturgy the power of which over the human spirit has been proved by the experience of the ages, peace will descend upon you.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Wise, Doubt, Age

  5 Copy quote

• He knew that all things human are transitory and therefore that it must cease one day or another. He looked forward to that day with eager longing. Love was like a parasite in his heart, nourishing a hateful existence on his life's blood; it absorbed his existence so intensely that he could take pleasure in nothing else.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Heart, Blood, One Day

  W. Somerset Maugham (2016). “Of Human Bondage (Diversion Classics)”, p.416, Diversion Books

  4 Copy quote

• This love was a torment, and he resented bitterly the subjugation in which it held him; he was a prisoner and he longed for freedom. Sometimes he awoke in the morning and felt nothing; his soul leaped, for he thought he was free; he loved no longer; but in a little while, as he grew wide awake, the pain settled in his heart, and he knew that he was not cured yet.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Morning, Pain, Heart

  W. Somerset Maugham (2013). “The Essential W. Somerset Maugham Collection”, p.1854, eBookIt.com

  4 Copy quote

• He exulted in the possession of himself once more; he realized how much of the delight of the world he had lost when he was absorbed in that madness which they called love; he had had enough of it; he did not want to be in love anymore if love was that.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Delight, World, Want

  4 Copy quote

• I don't think that women ought to sit down at table with men. It ruins conversation and I'm sure it's very bad for them. It puts ideas in their heads, and women are never at ease with themselves when they have ideas.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Men, Thinking, Ideas

  W. Somerset Maugham (2013). “The Essential W. Somerset Maugham Collection”, p.2031, eBookIt.com

  7 Copy quote

• You've been brought up like a gentleman and a Christian, and I should be false to the trust laid upon me by your dead father and mother if I allowed you to expose yourself to such temptation.' Well, I know I'm not a Christian and I'm beginning to doubt whether I'm a gentleman,' said Philip.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Christian, Mother, Father

  W. Somerset Maugham (2016). “Of Human Bondage (Diversion Classics)”, p.236, Diversion Books

  4 Copy quote

• It is clear that men accept an immediate pain rather than an immediate pleasure, but only because they expect a greater pleasure in the future. Often the pleasure is illusory, but their error in calculation is no refutation of the rule.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Country, Children, Pain

  "The Essential W. Somerset Maugham Collection".

  7 Copy quote

• He did not care if she was heartless, vicious and vulgar, stupid and grasping, he loved her. He would rather have misery with one than happiness with the other.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Stupid, Romance, Heartless

  W. Somerset Maugham (2016). “Of Human Bondage (Diversion Classics)”, p.471, Diversion Books

  7 Copy quote

• The last words he said to me when I bade him good-night were: Tell Amy it's no good coming after me. Anyhow, I shall change my hotel, so she wouldn't be able to find me.' My own impression is that she's well rid of you,' I said. My dear fellow, I only hope you'll be able to make her see it. But women are very unintelligent.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Good Night, Amy, Able

  4 Copy quote

• Everyone had some defect, or body or of mind: he thought of all the people he had known (the whole world was like a sick house and there was no rhyme or reason in it), he saw a long procession, deformed in body, warped in mind, some with illness of the flesh, weak hearts or weak lungs, and some with illness of the spirit, languor of will, or craving for liquor. At that moment he felt a holy compassion for them all. …The words of the dying God crossed his memory: Forgive them, for they know not what they do.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Memories, Heart, Compassion

  4 Copy quote

• The officers saluted as she passed and gravely bowed. They walked back across the courtyard and got into their chairs. She saw Waddington light a cigarette. A little smoke lost in the air, that was the life of a man.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Men, Light, Air

  4 Copy quote

• I happen to think we’ve set our ideal on the wrong objects; I happen to think that the greatest ideal man can set before himself is self-perfection.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Men, Thinking, Self

  5 Copy quote

• Do you absolutely despise me, Walter?" "No." He hesitated and his voice was strange. "I despise myself.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Voice, Strange, Despise

  W. Somerset Maugham (2009). “The Painted Veil”, p.113, Random House

  4 Copy quote

• Evil can be condoned only if in the beyond it is compensated by good and god himself needs immortality to vindicate his ways to man.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Men, Evil, Needs

  W. Somerset Maugham (1954). “Mr. Maugham Himself”

  4 Copy quote

• The highest activities of consciousness have their origins in physical occurrences of the brain, just as the loveliest melodies are not too sublime to be expressed by notes.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Sublime, Brain, Consciousness

  7 Copy quote

• Conscience is the guardian in the individual of the rules which the community has evolved for its own preservation.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Community, Individuality, Ethics

  W. Somerset Maugham (2013). “The Essential W. Somerset Maugham Collection”, p.1292, eBookIt.com

  4 Copy quote

• The nature of men and women - their essential nature - is so vile and despicable that if you were to portray a person as he really is, no one would believe you.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Love, Believe, Men

  4 Copy quote

• People who ask for your criticism want only praise.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  People, Criticism, Want

  7 Copy quote

• It is unfair to expect a politician to live in private up to the statements he makes in public.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Society, Politics, Politician

  W. Somerset Maugham (2017). “Plays Volume One”, p.161, Random House

  7 Copy quote

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