William Somerset Maugham quotes

“Old age has its pleasures, which, though different, are not less than the pleasures of youth.”

— William Somerset Maugham

“Money is the string with which a sardonic destiny directs the motions of its puppets.”

— William Somerset Maugham

“If you want to eat well in England, eat three breakfasts.”

— William Somerset Maugham

“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.”

— William Somerset Maugham

“It is an illusion that youth is happy, an illusion of those who have lost it.”

— William Somerset Maugham

“Have common sense and stick to the point.”

— William Somerset Maugham

“Tolerance is another word for indifference.”

— William Somerset Maugham

“Perfection is a trifle dull. It is not the least of life's ironies that this, which we all aim at, is better not quite achieved.”

— William Somerset Maugham

“The artist produces for the liberation of his soul. It is his nature to create as it is the nature of water to run down the hill.”

— William Somerset Maugham

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

— William Somerset Maugham

“Impropriety is the soul of wit.”

— William Somerset Maugham

“I made up my mind long ago that life was too short to do anything for myself that I could pay others to do for me.”

— William Somerset Maugham

“Like all weak men he laid an exaggerated stress on not changing one's mind.”

— William Somerset Maugham

“Money is like a sixth sense without which you cannot make a complete use of the other five.”

— William Somerset Maugham

“The great American novel has not only already been written, it has already been rejected.”

— William Somerset Maugham

“We know our friends by their defects rather than by their merits.”

— William Somerset Maugham

“No egoism is so insufferable as that of the Christian with regard to his soul.”

— William Somerset Maugham

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

— William Somerset Maugham

“Old age is ready to undertake tasks that youth shirked because they would take too long.”

— William Somerset Maugham

“Sentimentality is the only sentiment that rubs you the wrong way.”

— William Somerset Maugham

“The essence of the beautiful is unity in variety.”

— William Somerset Maugham

“Tradition is a guide and not a jailer.”

— William Somerset Maugham

“We learn resignation not by our own suffering, but by the suffering of others.”

— William Somerset Maugham

“When you are young you take the kindness people show you as your right.”

— William Somerset Maugham

“My own belief is that there is hardly anyone whose sexual life, if it were broadcast, would not fill the world at large with surprise and horror.”

— William Somerset Maugham

“The trouble with young writers is that they are all in their sixties.”

— William Somerset Maugham

“You know what the critics are. If you tell the truth they only say you're cynical and it does an author no good to get a reputation for cynicism.”

— William Somerset Maugham

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

— William Somerset Maugham

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

— William Somerset Maugham

“In Hollywood, the women are all peaches. It makes one long for an apple occasionally.”

— William Somerset Maugham