British playwright, novelist and short story writer
Women are constantly trying to commit suicide for love, but generally they take care not to succeed. – W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence
I don’t think of the past. The only thing that matters is the everlasting present. – W. Somerset Maugham
To bear failure with courage is the best proof of character that anyone can give. – W. Somerset Maugham
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, The Moon and Sixpence
To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life. – W. Somerset Maugham
If 50 million people say something foolish, it is still foolish. – W. Somerset Maugham
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
It’s a very funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it. – W. Somerset Maugham
Only a mediocre person is always at his best. – W. Somerset Maugham
There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. – W. Somerset Maugham
If nobody spoke unless he had something to say, the human race would very soon lose the use of speech. – W. Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil
One can be very much in love with a woman without wishing to spend the rest of one’s life with her. – W. Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil
The unfortunate thing about this world is that good habits are so much easier to give up than bad ones. – W. Somerset Maugham
If a man hasn’t what’s necessary to make a woman love him, it’s his fault, not hers. – W. Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil
It’s no use crying over spilt milk, because all of the forces of the universe were bent on spilling it. – W. Somerset Maugham
Sometimes people carry to such perfection the mask they have assumed that in due course they actually become the person they seem. – W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence
The love that lasts the longest is the love that is never returned. – W. Somerset Maugham
Unfortunately sometimes one can’t do what one thinks is right without making someone else unhappy. – W. Somerset Maugham
You can do anything in this world if you are prepared to take the consequences. – W. Somerset Maugham
People ask you for criticism, but they only want praise. – W. Somerset Maugham
One cannot find peace in work or in pleasure, in the world or in a convent, but only in one’s soul. – W. Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil
Money is like a sixth sense without which you cannot make a complete use of the other five. – W. Somerset Maugham, Of Human Bondage
I’ll give you my opinion of the human race in a nutshell… their heart’s in the right place, but their head is a thoroughly inefficient organ. – W. Somerset Maugham
I always find it more difficult to say the things I mean than the things I don’t. – W. Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil
There is no cruelty greater than a woman’s to a man who loves her and whom she does not love; she has no kindness then, no tolerance even, she has only an insane irritation. – W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence
It wasn’t until late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say “I don’t know. – W. Somerset Maugham
Tradition is a guide and not a jailer. – W. Somerset Maugham
If it is necessary sometimes to lie to others, it is always despicable to lie to oneself. – W. Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil
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