--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Now it is a funny thing about life. If…" description: "\"Now it is a funny thing about life. If you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it. If you utterly decline to make do with what y..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf2/w-somerset-maugham-237_accept_now-it-is-a-funny-thing-about-life-if-yo_2930411.jpg" --- # Now it is a funny thing about life. If you refuse to… ![“Now it is a funny thing about life. If you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it. If you utterly decline to make do with what you can get, then somehow or other, you are very likely to get what you want.” quote by W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf2/w-somerset-maugham-237_accept_now-it-is-a-funny-thing-about-life-if-yo_2930411.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf2/w-somerset-maugham-237_accept_now-it-is-a-funny-thing-about-life-if-yo_2930411.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf2/w-somerset-maugham-237_accept_now-it-is-a-funny-thing-about-life-if-yo_2930411.jpg) > “Now it is a funny thing about life. If you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it. If you utterly decline to make do with what you can get, then somehow or other, you are very likely to get what you want.” [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Refusing anything less than the best often leads to receiving it; rejecting mediocrity can bring desired outcomes. **In simple terms:** Demanding excellence can attract it. Key Takeaway Set high standards and pursue them. Themes ambition expectation outcome Mood reflective motivational Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - career goals - relationship standards - personal development Key Concepts law of attraction psychology Questions to Reflect On - What standards are truly essential? - How do you handle unmet expectations? A Different Perspective Unrealistic expectations may cause disappointment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Decline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decline/) [Determination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/determination/) [Funny things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny-things/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [What you want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/what-you-want/) ## Related quotes > [“It’s a very funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-a-very-funny-thing-about-life-if-you-refuse-to-accept-anything/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is funny about life: if you refuse to accept anything but the very best you will very often get it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham-2/it-is-funny-about-life-if-you-refuse-to-accept-anything-but-the-very/) [W Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham-2/) > [“If you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/if-you-refuse-to-accept-anything-but-the-best-you-very-often-get-it/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“If you refuse to accept nothing but the best you will often get it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-giftyakita/if-you-refuse-to-accept-nothing-but-the-best-you-will-often-get-it/) [Lailah GiftyAkita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-giftyakita/) > [“It’s a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it. —SOMERSET MAUGHAM”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-ban-breathnach/it-s-a-funny-thing-about-life-if-you-refuse-to-accept-anything-but/) [Sarah Ban Breathnach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-ban-breathnach/) > [“What I have tried to do in my own life is refuse the language and categories that would reduce me to less than my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-allison/what-i-have-tried-to-do-in-my-own-life-is-refuse-the-language-and/) [Dorothy Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-allison/) > [I've been told many times that I should give up trying to find balance in my life, but I refuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-hartz/i-ve-been-told-many-times-that-i-should-give-up-trying-to-find/) [Julia Hartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-hartz/) > [I won't accept anything less than the best a player's capable of doing... and he has the right to expect the best that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-holtz/i-won-t-accept-anything-less-than-the-best-a-player-s-capable-of/) [Lou Holtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-holtz/) > [Not to play is frustrating, and I don't accept it, but I do the best I can to try to play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-bridge/not-to-play-is-frustrating-and-i-don-t-accept-it-but-i-do-the-best-i/) [Wayne Bridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-bridge/) > [This is what I was born with,this is how I look, and this is what I have. 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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/) [Explore all 840 W. Somerset Maugham quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) ## More Accept quotes > [If we accept being talked to any kind of a way, then we are telling ourselves we are not quite worth the best. 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