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W. Somerset Maugham Quotes

W. Somerset Maugham quotes

British Playwright, Writer January 25, 1874 – December 16, 1965

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Quotes

Each one of us is alone in the world. He is shut in a tower of brass, and can communicate with his fellows only by signs, and the signs have no common value, so that their sense is vague and uncertain. 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. W. Somerset Maugham
Vaguely, as when you are studying a foreign language and read a page which at first you can make nothing of, till a word or a sentence gives you a clue; and on a sudden suspicion, as it were, of the sense flashes across your troubled wits, vaguely she gained an inkling into the workings of Walter's mind. It was like a dark and ominous landscape seen by a flash of lightning and in a moment hidden again by the night. She shuddered at what she saw. W. Somerset Maugham
In the week I promised myself I should naturally read, for to the habitual reader reading is a drug of which he is the slave; deprive him of printed matter and he grows nervous, moody, and restless; then, like the alcoholic bereft of brandy who will drink shellac or methylated spirit, he will make do with the advertisements of a paper five years old; he will make do with a telephone directory. W. Somerset Maugham
The belief of God is not a matter of common sense, or logic, or argument, but of feeling. It is as impossible to prove the existence of God as to disprove it. I do not believe in God. I see no need of such an idea. It is incredible to me that there should be an after-life. I find the notion of future punishment outrageous and of future reward extravagant. I am convinced that when I die, I shall cease entirely to live; I shall return to the earth I came from. Yet I can imagine that at some... W. Somerset Maugham
He had been taught by his uncle that his prayers were more acceptable to God if he said them in his nightshirt than if he waited till he was dressed. This did not surprise him, for he was beginning to realize that he was the creature of a God who appreciated the discomfort of his worshipers. W. Somerset Maugham
None was more indifferent to convention than herself, and the marriage tie especially excited her ridicule, but she despised entirely those who disregarded the by-laws of society, yet lacked courage to suffer the results of their boldness: to seek the good opinion of the world, and yet secretly to act counter to its idea of decorum, was a very contemptible hypocrisy. W. Somerset Maugham
W. Somerset Maugham quote: "Only a mediocre person is always at his best."
Only a mediocre person is always at his best. W. Somerset Maugham
W. Somerset Maugham quote: "Marriage is a very good thing, but I think it’s a mistake to..."
Marriage is a very good thing, but I think it’s a mistake to make a habit of it. W. Somerset Maugham
W. Somerset Maugham quote: "We Americans... like change. It is at once our weakness and..."
We Americans... like change. It is at once our weakness and our strength. W. Somerset Maugham
W. Somerset Maugham quote: "The best style is the style you don't notice."
The best style is the style you don't notice. W. Somerset Maugham
W. Somerset Maugham quote: "It's a long, arduous road he's starting to travel, but it may..."
It's a long, arduous road he's starting to travel, but it may be that at the end of it he'll find what's he's seeking. W. Somerset Maugham
You rejoice in your freedom, and you feel that at last you can call your soul your own. You seem to walk with your head among the stars. And then, all of a sudden you can't stand it anymore, and you notice that all the time your feet have been walking in the mud. W. Somerset Maugham
What on earth did you want with an early Christian sarcophagus, Elliot?"To put myself in it, my dear fellow. It was of very good design, and I thought it would balance the font on the other side of the entrance, but those early Christians were stumpy little fellows and I shouldn't have fitted in. I wasn't going to lie there till the Last Trump with my knees doubled up to my chin like a foetus. Most uncomfortable. W. Somerset Maugham
W. Somerset Maugham quote: "If you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often..."
If you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it. W. Somerset Maugham
Culture is not something you put on like a ready-made suit of clothes, but a nourishment you absorb to build up your personality, just as food builds up the body of a growing boy; it is not an ornament to decorate a phrase, still less to show off your knowledge, but a means, painfully acquired, to enrich the soul. W. Somerset Maugham

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