William Somerset Maugham Quotes

There are two good things in life freedom of thought and freedom of action.

We seek pitifully to convey to others the treasures of our heart, but they have not the power to accept them, and so we go lonely, side by side but not together, unable to know our fellows and unknown by them.

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.

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

To write simply is as difficult as to be good.

You know, of course, that the Tasmanians, who never committed adultery, are now extinct.

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

There is hardly anyone whose sexual life, if it were broadcast, would not fill the world at large with surprise and horror.

Marriage is a very good thing, but I think it's a mistake to make a habit out of it.

Beauty is something wonderful and strange that the artist fashions out of the chaos of the world in the torment of his soul.

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

Words have weight, sound and appearance; it is only by considering these that you can write a sentence that is good to look at and good to listen to.

Common sense and good nature will do a lot to make the pilgrimage of life not too difficult.

Dying is a very dull, dreary affair. And my advice to you is to have nothing whatever to do with it.

Love is only the dirty trick played on us to achieve continuation of the species.

Tolerance is another word for indifference.

What makes old age hard to bear is not the failing of one's faculties, mental and physical, but the burden of one's memories.

Beauty is an ecstasy; it is as simple as hunger. There is really nothing to be said about it. It is like the perfume of a rose: you can smell it and that is all.

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

I don't know why it is that the religious never ascribe common sense to God.

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

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

The essence of the beautiful is unity in variety.

I would sooner read a timetable or a catalog than nothing at all.

No man in his heart is quite so cynical as a well-bred woman.