W. Somerset Maugham

Imagination grows by exercise.

— W. Somerset Maugham

“The day broke gray and dull.”

— W. Somerset Maugham

“Desire is sad.”

— W. Somerset Maugham

Impropriety is the soul of wit.

— W. Somerset Maugham

Writing is the supreme solace.

— W. Somerset Maugham

Sherry, the civilized drink.

— W. Somerset Maugham

The writer is more concerned to know than to judge.

— W. Somerset Maugham

What mean and cruel things men can do for the love of God.

— W. Somerset Maugham

You must not pursue a success, but fly from it.

— W. Somerset Maugham

As if a woman ever loved a man for his virtue.

— W. Somerset Maugham

A good rule for writers: do not explain overmuch.

— W. Somerset Maugham

The end of culture is right living

— W. Somerset Maugham

As the cosmos are in place, so be it with your life.

— W. Somerset Maugham

Only mediocre people are at the best all the time.

— W. Somerset Maugham

The humorist has a good eye for the humbug; he does not always recognize the saint.

— W. Somerset Maugham

Do you know that conversation is one of the greatest pleasures in life? But it wants leisure.

— W. Somerset Maugham

“...peace of mind: Thou shalt have it only, the answer seemed to come to me, when thou has ceased to desire it.”

— W. Somerset Maugham

“She did not know why it seemed to her so tragic to cry in her sleep.”

— W. Somerset Maugham

“But their fondest thoughts went to the two sons who had brought honour and glory to their ancient name.”

— W. Somerset Maugham

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

— W. Somerset Maugham

“I wasn't frightened for myself; I was indignant; it was the wickedness of it that broke me.”

— W. Somerset Maugham

Writing is a wholetime job: no professional writer can afford only to write when he feels like it.

— W. Somerset Maugham

It is not true that suffering ennobles the character; happiness does that sometimes, but suffering for the most part, makes men petty…

— W. Somerset Maugham

“She was one of those writers, far from rare in the world of letters, who suppose that push and pull are an…

— W. Somerset Maugham

Beauty is an ecstasy; it is as simple as hunger. There is really nothing to be said about it. It is like…

— W. Somerset Maugham

“PORTEOUS: Do you mean to say you were going to steal my car. TEDDIE: Not exactly. I was only going to bolshevise…

— W. Somerset Maugham

“He was thankful not to have to believe in God, for then such a condition of things would be intolerable; one could…

— W. Somerset Maugham

There in the mist, enormous, majestic, silent and terrible, stood the Great Wall of China. Solitarily, with the indifference of nature herself,…

— W. Somerset Maugham

“It is a grotesque misapprehension which sees in art no more than a craft comprehensible perfectly only to the craftsman: art is…

— W. Somerset Maugham

“Melville, by his own account, spent four months in the valley. He was well treated. He made friends with a girl called…

— 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…

— W. Somerset Maugham

When some incident has shattered the career you’ve mapped out for yourself, a folly, a crime or a misfortune, you mustn’t think…

— W. Somerset Maugham

“I have nothing to do with others, I am only concerned with myself. I take advantage of the fact that the majority…

— W. Somerset Maugham

“I can't afford to let my judgement be clouded by any feeling that I might have for a human being. You are…

— W. Somerset Maugham

“You don't know the difference between truth and make-believe. You never stop acting. It's second nature to you. You act when there's…

— W. Somerset Maugham

The world is hard and cruel. We are here none knows why, and we go none knows whither. We must be very…

— W. Somerset Maugham

“It came upon me little by little. I came to like the life here, with its ease and its leisure, and the…

— W. Somerset Maugham

“I used to think that one day I should write a really great novel, but I've long ceased even to hope for…

— W. Somerset Maugham

“From a social standpoint the man of science does not exist.”

— W. Somerset Maugham

It does the heart good to look at you.

— W. Somerset Maugham