W. Somerset Maugham Quotes - Page 5

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It's a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.

In the conduct of life we make use of deliberation to justify ourselves in doing what we want to do.

Women are constantly trying to commit suicide for love, but generally they take care not to succeed.

It is one of the defects of my character that I cannot altogether dislike anyone who makes me laugh.

I can imagine no more comfortable frame of mind for the conduct of life than a humorous resignation.

I [Death] was astonished to see him in Baghdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.

The secret of play-writing can be given in two maxims: stick to the point, and, whenever you can, cut.

Of all these the richest in beauty is the beautiful life. That is the perfect work of art. ~Waddington

If nobody spoke unless he had something to say, the human race would very soon lose the use of speech.

Usage is the only test. I prefer a phrase that is easy and unaffected to a phrase that is grammatical.

We have long passed the Victorian Era when asterisks were followed after a certain interval by a baby.

Death is a very dull, dreary affair, and my advice to you is to have nothing whatsoever to do with it.

I never spend more than one hour in a gallery. That is as long as one's power of appreciation persists.

You're beginning to dislike me, aren't you? Well, dislike me. It doesn't make any difference to me now.

It's no use crying over spilt milk, because all of the forces of the universe were bent on spilling it.

No woman is worth more than a fiver unless you're in love with her. Then she's worth all she costs you.

The rain fell alike upon the just and upon the unjust, and for nothing was there a why and a wherefore.

He had heard people speak contemptuously of money: he wondered if they had ever tried to do without it.

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

I do not confer praise or blame: I accept. I am the measure of all things. I am the center of the world.

Women are often under the impression that men are much more madly in love with them than they really are.

Few misfortunes can befall a boy which bring worse consequence than to have a really affectionate mother.

Habits in writing as in life are only useful if they are broken as soon as they cease to be advantageous.

The passing moment is all we can be sure of; it is only common sense to extract its utmost value from it.

Men have an extraordinarily erroneous opinion of their position in nature; and the error is ineradicable.

In heaven, when the blessed use the telephone they will say what they have to say and not a word besides.

But what is criticism? Criticism is purely destructive; anyone can destroy, but not everyone can build up.

A man ought to work. That's what he's here for. That's how he contributes to the welfare of the community.

Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit.

Reserve is an artificial quality that is developed in most of us but as the result of innumerable rebuffs.

Most people are such fools that it is really no great compliment to say that someone is above the average.

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

As lovers, the difference between men and women is that women can love all day long, but men only at times.

He did not care upon what terms he satisfied his passion. He had even a mad, melodramatic idea to drug her.

There is only one way to win hearts and that is to make oneself like unto those of whom one would be loved.

To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life.

An unfortunate thing about this world is that the good habits are much easier to give up than the bad ones.

We who are of mature age seldom suspect how unmercifully and yet with what insight the very young judge us.

I do not think you want too much sincerity in society. It would be like an iron girder in a house of cards.

Life is really very fantastic, and one has to have a peculiar sense of humour to see the fun of it. [Virtue]

A good story is obviously a difficult thing to invent, but its difficulty is a poor reason for despising it.

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

An art is only great and significant if it is one that all may enjoy. The art of a clique is but a plaything.

It seems that the creative faculty and the critical faculty cannot exist together in their highest perfection.

If people waited to know one another before they married, the world wouldn't be as overpopulated as it is now.

It must be a fault in me that I am not gravely shocked at the sins of others unless they personally affect me.

The ideas for stories that thronged my brain would not let me rest till I had got rid of them by writing them.

What do we any of us have but our illusions? And what do we ask of others but that we be allowed to keep them?

Loving-kindness is the better part of goodness. It lends grace to the sterner qualities of which this consists.

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

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