--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What has influenced my life more than any…" description: "\"What has influenced my life more than any other single thing has been my stammer. Had I not stammered I would probably... have gone to Cambridge as my ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/982/w-somerset-maugham-237_book_what-has-influenced-my-life-more-than-an_1994729.jpg" --- # What has influenced my life more than any other single… ![“What has influenced my life more than any other single thing has been my stammer. Had I not stammered I would probably... have gone to Cambridge as my brothers did, perhaps have become a don and every now and then published a dreary book about French literature.” quote by W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/982/w-somerset-maugham-237_book_what-has-influenced-my-life-more-than-an_1994729.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/982/w-somerset-maugham-237_book_what-has-influenced-my-life-more-than-an_1994729.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/982/w-somerset-maugham-237_book_what-has-influenced-my-life-more-than-an_1994729.jpg) > “What has influenced my life more than any other single thing has been my stammer. Had I not stammered I would probably... have gone to Cambridge as my brothers did, perhaps have become a don and every now and then published a dreary book about French literature.” [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. Personal challenges shape identity and career paths more than conventional expectations. **In simple terms:** Stammer changed my life direction. Key Takeaway Embrace obstacles as defining forces. Themes identity career adversity Mood reflective introspective Type personal philosophical When to use this quote - education choices - career planning - public speaking - self‑acceptance Key Concepts self‑concept social perception determinism Questions to Reflect On - How might your challenges have redirected your ambitions? - What strengths have you gained from them? A Different Perspective Stammer may limit certain opportunities but also opens unique perspectives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Cambridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cambridge/) [Dreary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreary/) [French literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/french-literature/) [Gone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gone/) [Influenced Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/influenced-life-631552/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Now and then](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/now-and-then/) [Speech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speech/) [Stammer Stammered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stammer-stammered-3478148/) [Stammered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stammered-3290520/) [Stammered Probably](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stammered-probably-3478149/) [Thing Stammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing-stammer-3478150/) ## Related quotes > [“No, no . . . that’s not why I came,” Ryan stammered. “What I wanted to say”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-goff/no-no-that-s-not-why-i-came-ryan-stammered-what-i-wanted-to-say/) [Bob Goff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-goff/) > [“Please, don’t kill me," she stammered, "I'm just a novelist…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-l-michaels/please-don-t-kill-me-she-stammered-i-m-just-a-novelist/) [Alex L. 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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 Book quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! 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