W. Somerset Maugham Quotes - Page 3

Quotes about:

• It wasn't until late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say, 'I don't know.'

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Children, Humble, Humility

  56 Copy quote

• Imagination grows by exercise, and contrary to common belief, is more powerful in the mature than in the young.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Powerful, Writing, Creativity

  "The Summing Up" by W. Somerset Maugham, Doubleday, Doran & Co., (p. 164), 1938.

  89 Copy quote

• It's no good trying to keep up old friendships. It's painful for both sides. The fact is, one grows out of people, and the only thing is to face it.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Life, Friendship, Time

  W. Somerset Maugham (1930). “Cakes and Ale”

  39 Copy quote

• My own belief is that there is hardly anyone whose sexual life, if it were broadcast, would not fill the world at large with surprise and horror.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Life, Sex, Gay

  "Somerset Maugham". Book by Ted Morgan, 1980.

  12 Copy quote

• Life is so largely controlled by chance that its conduct can be but a perpetual improvisation.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Life, Cute, Chance

  44 Copy quote

• The well dressed man is he whose clothes you never notice

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Men, Clothes, Well Dressed

  21 Copy quote

• The essence of the beautiful is unity in variety.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Beautiful, Wise, Wisdom

  59 Copy quote

• There is nothing so degrading as the constant anxiety about one's means of livelihood.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Mean, Anxiety, Human Bondage

  W. Somerset Maugham (2016). “Of Human Bondage (Diversion Classics)”, p.342, Diversion Books

  8 Copy quote

• It was such a beautiful day I decided to stay in bed.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Beautiful, Beautiful Day, Bed

  10 Copy quote

• Tradition is a guide and not a jailer.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Teaching, Diversity, Social Justice

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

  9 Copy quote

• When you choose your friends, don't be short-changed by choosing personality over character.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Inspirational, Friendship, Children

  45 Copy quote

• When you are young you take the kindness people show you as your right.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Kindness, People, Young

  W. Somerset Maugham (1930). “Cakes and Ale”

  15 Copy quote

• The crown of literature is poetry. It is its end and aim. It is the sublimest activity of the human mind. It is the achievement of beauty and delicacy. The writer of prose can only step aside when the poet passes.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Poetry, Achievement, Mind

  11 Copy quote

• Women's hearts are like old china, none the worse for a break or two.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Women, Heart, Two

  4 Copy quote

• You will find as you grow older that the first thing needful to make the world a tolerable place to live in is to recognize the inevitable selfishness of humanity. You demand unselfishness from others, which is a preposterous claim that they should sacrifice their desires to yours. Why should they? When you are reconciled to the fact that each is for himself in the world you will ask less from your fellows. They will not disappoint you, and you will look upon them more charitably. Men seek but one thing in life -- their pleasure.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Sacrifice, Men, Things In Life

  14 Copy quote

• There is a sort of man who pays no attention to his good actions, but is tormented by his bad ones. This is the type that most often writes about himself.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Writing, Men, Guilt

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

  10 Copy quote

• Imagination grows by exercise.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Exercise, Imagination, Creative

  "The Summing Up". Book by W. Somerset Maugham, 1938.

  15 Copy quote

• Men have ascribed to God imperfections that they would deplore in themselves.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Men, Imperfection, Religion

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

  4 Copy quote

• If you can tell stories, create characters, devise incidents, and have sincerity and passion, it doesn't matter a damn how you write.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Writing, Character, Passion

  34 Copy quote

• A woman can forgive a man for the harm he does her...but she can never forgive him for the sacrifices he makes on her account.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Love, Sacrifice, Men

  Moon and Sixpence (1919) ch. 41

  13 Copy quote

• It is a nuisance that knowledge can only be acquired by hard work.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Education, Hard Work, Knowledge

  5 Copy quote

• The tragedy of love is indifference.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Love, Life, Tragedy

  The Trembling of a Leaf ch. 4 (1921)

  5 Copy quote

• What does democracy come down to? The persuasive power of slogans invented by wily self-seeking politicians.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Self, Democracy, Atheism

  W. Somerset Maugham (1939). “Christmas Holiday”

  24 Copy quote

• Life wouldn’t be worth living if I worried over the future as well as the present. When things are at their worst I find something always happens.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Worried, Human Bondage, Worst

  W. Somerset Maugham (2013). “The Essential W. Somerset Maugham Collection”, p.1876, eBookIt.com

  28 Copy quote

• A bird in the hand was worth two in the bush, he told her, to which she retorted that a proverb was the last refuge of the mentally destitute.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Hands, Two, Bird

  6 Copy quote

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