---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The inclination to digress is human. But…"
description: "\"The inclination to digress is human. But the dramatist must avoid it even more strenuously than the saint must avoid sin, for while sin may be venial, ..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a08/w-somerset-maugham-237_digression_the-inclination-to-digress-is-human-but_459502.jpg"
---

#  The inclination to digress is human. But the dramatist…

![“The inclination to digress is human. But the dramatist must avoid it even more strenuously than the saint must avoid sin, for while sin may be venial, digression is mortal.” quote by W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a08/w-somerset-maugham-237_digression_the-inclination-to-digress-is-human-but_459502.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a08/w-somerset-maugham-237_digression_the-inclination-to-digress-is-human-but_459502.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a08/w-somerset-maugham-237_digression_the-inclination-to-digress-is-human-but_459502.jpg)

> “The inclination to digress is human. But the dramatist must avoid it even more strenuously than the saint must avoid sin, for while sin may be venial, digression is mortal.”

[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.

Writers must resist the temptation to stray from the main narrative, as digression weakens impact more than minor sins.

**In simple terms:** Stay focused on the main story.

Key Takeaway

Avoid unnecessary tangents.

Themes

discipline focus writing

Mood

reflective serious

Type

advice philosophical

When to use this quote

- scriptwriting
- novel drafting
- public speaking
- teaching

Key Concepts

narrative integrity creative restraint

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you recognize when a tangent harms your message?
- What strategies keep you on track?

A Different Perspective

Even disciplined writers can slip into digression under pressure.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Digression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/digression/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Mortals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mortals/) [Saint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saint/) [Sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sin/) [Theater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theater/)

## Related quotes

> [“The real secret, though, is that nobody belongs, whether they are natives or not. After expulsion from paradise all humans are in exile. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-codrescu/the-real-secret-though-is-that-nobody-belongs-whether-they-are/)

[Andrei Codrescu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-codrescu/)

> [“If I have any fault, it is digression”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gordon-byron/if-i-have-any-fault-it-is-digression/)

[George Gordon Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-gordon-byron/)

> [“It seemed that digression was the true principle of the universe, that the only real subject was the way the subject kept changing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/it-seemed-that-digression-was-the-true-principle-of-the-universe-that/)

[Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/)

> [The more learned a writer, the more digression beckons him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-more-learned-a-writer-the-more-digression-beckons-him/)

[Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/)

> [Digression is my passion. I love telling the main stories, but in some ways, what I love most is using those narratives as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/digression-is-my-passion-i-love-telling-the-main-stories-but-in-some/)

[Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/)

> [“The Duchess looked at Chloe with a look that said, You had the chance to tell him, but you chose to carry on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-walliams/the-duchess-looked-at-chloe-with-a-look-that-said-you-had-the-chance/)

[David Walliams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-walliams/)

> [“I have digressed, which is also the kind of writer I would become.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/i-have-digressed-which-is-also-the-kind-of-writer-i-would-become/)

[John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/)

> [“Nothing is more to the point than a good digression.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-caplan/nothing-is-more-to-the-point-than-a-good-digression/)

[Ralph Caplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-caplan/)

> [“For, let's face it, digression is the soul of wit. Take philosophic asides away from Dante, Milton or Hamlet's father's ghost and what stays…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/for-let-s-face-it-digression-is-the-soul-of-wit-take-philosophic/)

[Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/)

> [Oh, I don’t know. That digression business got on my nerves. I don’t know. The trouble with me is, I like it when somebody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/oh-i-don-t-know-that-digression-business-got-on-my-nerves-i-don-t/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“That digression business got on my nerves. I don't now. The trouble with me is, I like it when somebody digresses. It's more interesting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/that-digression-business-got-on-my-nerves-i-don-t-now-the-trouble/)

[J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/)

> [Digression is the soul of wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/digression-is-the-soul-of-wit/)

[Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/)

> [“the feeling of being a digression not the link in the argument, a new direction, an offshoot, the limb going on elsewhere, and liking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorie-graham/the-feeling-of-being-a-digression-not-the-link-in-the-argument-a-new/)

[Jorie Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorie-graham/)

> [“(This is not a digression.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-k-jemisin/this-is-not-a-digression/)

[N.K. Jemisin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-k-jemisin/)

> [Digression is the soul of wit. Take the philosophic asides away from Dante, Milton or Hamlet's father's ghost and what stays is dry bones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/digression-is-the-soul-of-wit-take-the-philosophic-asides-away-from/)

[Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/)

## 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/)

[Explore all 840 W. Somerset Maugham quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/)

## More Digression quotes

> [“The real secret, though, is that nobody belongs, whether they are natives or not. After expulsion from paradise all humans are in exile. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-codrescu/the-real-secret-though-is-that-nobody-belongs-whether-they-are/)

[Andrei Codrescu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-codrescu/)

> [“(This is not a digression.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-k-jemisin/this-is-not-a-digression/)

[N.K. Jemisin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-k-jemisin/)

> [“the feeling of being a digression not the link in the argument, a new direction, an offshoot, the limb going on elsewhere, and liking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorie-graham/the-feeling-of-being-a-digression-not-the-link-in-the-argument-a-new/)

[Jorie Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorie-graham/)

> [Digression is the soul of wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/digression-is-the-soul-of-wit/)

[Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/)

> [“That digression business got on my nerves. I don't now. The trouble with me is, I like it when somebody digresses. It's more interesting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/that-digression-business-got-on-my-nerves-i-don-t-now-the-trouble/)

[J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/)

> [Oh, I don’t know. That digression business got on my nerves. I don’t know. The trouble with me is, I like it when somebody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/oh-i-don-t-know-that-digression-business-got-on-my-nerves-i-don-t/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“For, let's face it, digression is the soul of wit. Take philosophic asides away from Dante, Milton or Hamlet's father's ghost and what stays…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/for-let-s-face-it-digression-is-the-soul-of-wit-take-philosophic/)

[Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/)

> [“Nothing is more to the point than a good digression.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-caplan/nothing-is-more-to-the-point-than-a-good-digression/)

[Ralph Caplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-caplan/)

> [“I have digressed, which is also the kind of writer I would become.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/i-have-digressed-which-is-also-the-kind-of-writer-i-would-become/)

[John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/)

> [“The Duchess looked at Chloe with a look that said, You had the chance to tell him, but you chose to carry on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-walliams/the-duchess-looked-at-chloe-with-a-look-that-said-you-had-the-chance/)

[David Walliams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-walliams/)

> [Digression is my passion. I love telling the main stories, but in some ways, what I love most is using those narratives as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/digression-is-my-passion-i-love-telling-the-main-stories-but-in-some/)

[Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/)

> [The more learned a writer, the more digression beckons him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-more-learned-a-writer-the-more-digression-beckons-him/)

[Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/)

> [“It seemed that digression was the true principle of the universe, that the only real subject was the way the subject kept changing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/it-seemed-that-digression-was-the-true-principle-of-the-universe-that/)

[Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/)

> [“If I have any fault, it is digression”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gordon-byron/if-i-have-any-fault-it-is-digression/)

[George Gordon Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-gordon-byron/)

> [Digression is the soul of wit. Take the philosophic asides away from Dante, Milton or Hamlet's father's ghost and what stays is dry bones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/digression-is-the-soul-of-wit-take-the-philosophic-asides-away-from/)

[Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/)

[Browse all 19 Digression quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/digression/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "The inclination to digress is human. But the dramatist must avoid it even more strenuously than the saint must avoid sin, for while sin may be venial, digression is mortal.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "W. Somerset Maugham"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/the-inclination-to-digress-is-human-but-the-dramatist-must-avoid-it/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Digression"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/the-inclination-to-digress-is-human-but-the-dramatist-must-avoid-it/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a08/w-somerset-maugham-237_digression_the-inclination-to-digress-is-human-but_459502.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a08/w-somerset-maugham-237_digression_the-inclination-to-digress-is-human-but_459502.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a08/w-somerset-maugham-237_digression_the-inclination-to-digress-is-human-but_459502.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“The inclination to digress is human. But the dramatist must avoid it even more strenuously than the saint…” — W. Somerset Maugham",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "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": "W. Somerset Maugham",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "The inclination to digress is human....",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/the-inclination-to-digress-is-human-but-the-dramatist-must-avoid-it/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/the-inclination-to-digress-is-human-but-the-dramatist-must-avoid-it/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```