--- title: "1 Desire Seized Quotes By W. Somerset Maugham" description: "1 Desire Seized quotes by W. Somerset Maugham. Plus more from W. Somerset Maugham and more Desire Seized sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3af/w-somerset-maugham-237_art_he-had-violent-passions-and-on-occasion_2547205.jpg" --- > [“He had violent passions, and on occasion desire seized his body so that he was driven to an orgy of lust, but he hated the instincts that robbed him of his self-possession. I think, even, he hated the inevitable partner…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/he-had-violent-passions-and-on-occasion-desire-seized-his-body-so/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3af/w-somerset-maugham-237_art_he-had-violent-passions-and-on-occasion_2547205.jpg) ## More by W. Somerset Maugham > [“A man thinks it quite natural that he should fall out of love with a woman, but it never strikes him for a moment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/a-man-thinks-it-quite-natural-that-he-should-fall-out-of-love-with-a/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“A man's work reveals him. In social intercourse he gives you the surface that he wishes the world to accept, but in his book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/a-man-s-work-reveals-him-in-social-intercourse-he-gives-you-the/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [Love is only a dirty trick played on us to achieve continuation of the species.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/love-is-only-a-dirty-trick-played-on-us-to-achieve-continuation-of/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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 humble. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/the-world-is-hard-and-cruel-we-are-here-none-knows-why-and-we-go-none/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“There is no more merit in having read a thousand books than in having ploughed a thousand fields.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/there-is-no-more-merit-in-having-read-a-thousand-books-than-in-having/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“I wanted to live again and again. I was willing to accept every sort of life, no matter what its pain and sorrow; I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/i-wanted-to-live-again-and-again-i-was-willing-to-accept-every-sort/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [In Hollywood, the women are all peaches. It makes one long for an apple occasionally.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/in-hollywood-the-women-are-all-peaches-it-makes-one-long-for-an-apple/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [Follow your inclinations with due regard to the policeman round the corner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/follow-your-inclinations-with-due-regard-to-the-policeman-round-the/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“His love became a prison from which he longed to escape, but he had not the strength merely to open the door-that was all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/his-love-became-a-prison-from-which-he-longed-to-escape-but-he-had/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [I did not believe him capable of love. That is an emotion in which tenderness is an essential part, but Strickland had no tenderness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/i-did-not-believe-him-capable-of-love-that-is-an-emotion-in-which/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [If only the good were a little less heavy-footed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/if-only-the-good-were-a-little-less-heavy-footed/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [Perfection has one grave defect: it is apt to be dull.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/perfection-has-one-grave-defect-it-is-apt-to-be-dull/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“A God that can be understood is no God. Who can explain the Infinite in words?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/a-god-that-can-be-understood-is-no-god-who-can-explain-the-infinite/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“My dear, you used to be quite a dish; now you're quite a tureen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/my-dear-you-used-to-be-quite-a-dish-now-you-re-quite-a-tureen/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“When people say they do not care what others thing of them, for the most part they deceive themselves”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/when-people-say-they-do-not-care-what-others-thing-of-them-for-the/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire-seized/w-somerset-maugham/#itemlist", "name": "1 Desire Seized Quotes By W. Somerset Maugham", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“He had violent passions, and on occasion desire seized his body so that he was driven to an orgy of lust, but he hated the instincts that robbed him of his self-possession. I think, even, he hated the inevitable partner in his debauchery. When he had regained command over himself, he shuddered at the sight of the woman he had enjoyed. His thoughts floated then serenely in the empyrean, and he felt towards her the horror that perhaps the painted butterfly, hovering about the flowers, feels to the filthy chrysalis from which it has triumphantly emerged. I suppose that art is a manifestation of the sexual instinct. It is the same emotion which is excited in the human heart by the sight of a lovely woman, the Bay of Naples under the yellow moon, and the Entombment of Titian. It is possible that Strickland hated the normal release of sex because it seemed to him brutal by comparison with the satisfaction of artistic creation.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "W. Somerset Maugham" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/he-had-violent-passions-and-on-occasion-desire-seized-his-body-so/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3af/w-somerset-maugham-237_art_he-had-violent-passions-and-on-occasion_2547205.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3af/w-somerset-maugham-237_art_he-had-violent-passions-and-on-occasion_2547205.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3af/w-somerset-maugham-237_art_he-had-violent-passions-and-on-occasion_2547205.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“He had violent passions, and on occasion desire seized his body so that he was driven to an orgy of lust…” — W. Somerset Maugham", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire-seized/w-somerset-maugham/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire-seized/w-somerset-maugham/", "name": "Desire Seized Quotes by W. Somerset Maugham", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire-seized/w-somerset-maugham/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3af/w-somerset-maugham-237_art_he-had-violent-passions-and-on-occasion_2547205.jpg" }, "description": "1 Desire Seized quotes by W. Somerset Maugham. Plus more from W. Somerset Maugham and more Desire Seized sayings from other authors.", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire-seized/w-somerset-maugham/#breadcrumb" } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire-seized/w-somerset-maugham/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Topics", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Desire Seized", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire-seized/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "name": "W. Somerset Maugham", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire-seized/w-somerset-maugham/" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```