W. Somerset Maugham Quotes

Quotes about:

• Nothing in the world is permanent, and we’re foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we’re still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Change, Enjoy It While It Lasts, Delight

  "The Razor's Edge". Book by W. Somerset Maugham, 1944.

  174 Copy quote

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

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Inspirational, Funny, Life

  The Mixture as Before "The Treasure" (1940)

  126 Copy quote

• We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Love, Life, Change

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

  166 Copy quote

• The fact that a great many people believe something is no guarantee of its truth.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Believe, People, Guarantees

  64 Copy quote

• The secret to life is meaningless unless you discover it yourself.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Inspirational, Secret, Life Is

  116 Copy quote

• If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that too.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Freedom, Patriotic, Libertarian Party

  "Strictly Personal" by W. Somerset Maugham, (ch. 31), 1941.

  125 Copy quote

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

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Life, Book, Reading

  145 Copy quote

• The world is hard and cruel. We are here none knows why, and we go none knows whither. We must be very humble. We must see the beauty of quietness. We must go through life so inconspicuously that Fate does not notice us. And let us seek the love of simple, ignorant people. Their ignorance is better than all our knowledge. Let us be silent, content in our little corner, meek and gentle like them. That is the wisdom of life.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Humble, Ignorance, Fate

  W. Somerset Maugham (2013). “The Essential W. Somerset Maugham Collection”, p.1377, eBookIt.com

  57 Copy quote

• The most valuable thing I have learned from life is to regret nothing.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Wisdom, Regret, Life Is

  17 Copy quote

• The only important thing in a book is the meaning that it has for you.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Education, Book, Reading

  102 Copy quote

• Only a mediocre person is always at his best.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Inspirational, Life, Failure

  22 Copy quote

• Simplicity and naturalness are the truest marks of distinction.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Simplicity, Distinction, Mark

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

  14 Copy quote

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

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Men, Clothes, Well Dressed

  19 Copy quote

• Dullness is the first requisite of a good husband.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Husband, Firsts, Good Husband

  6 Copy quote

• I don't think of the past. The only thing that matters is the everlasting present.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Time, Past, Thinking

  W. Somerset Maugham (2012). “The Moon and Sixpence”, p.59, Courier Corporation

  14 Copy quote

• The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Inspirational, Funny, Science

  18 Copy quote

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

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Use, Milk, Cry

  "Of Human Bondage" by W. Somerset Maugham, (Ch. 68), 1915.

  21 Copy quote

• 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.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Time, Memories, Age

  Points of View Ch. 1

  19 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

  13 Copy quote

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

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Giving Up, Unfortunate Things, World

  17 Copy quote

• It is bad enough to know the past; it would be intolerable to know the future.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Past, Would Be, Enough

  4 Copy quote

• The complete life, the perfect pattern, includes old age as well as youth and maturity. The beauty of the morning and the radiance of noon are good, but it would be a very silly person who drew the curtains and turned on the light in order to shut out the tranquillity of the evening. Old age has its pleasures, which, though different, are not less than the pleasures of youth.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Beauty, Morning, Silly

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

  41 Copy quote

• The love that lasts longest is the love that is never returned.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Love, Life, Heartbreak

  "A Writer's Notebook" by W. Somerset Maugham, Country Life Press, (p. 13), 1949.

  57 Copy quote

• You can do anything in this world if you are prepared to take the consequences.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Inspirational, Positive Thinking, World

  "The Circle: A Comedy in Three Acts". Play by W. Somerset Maugham, 1921.

  23 Copy quote

• The essence of the beautiful is unity in variety.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Beautiful, Wise, Wisdom

  58 Copy quote

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