More from William Somerset Maugham

  1. There are men whose sense of humour is so ill developed that they still bear a grudge against Copernicus because he dethroned them from the…
  2. If forty million people say a foolish thing it does not become a wise one, but the wise man is foolish to give them the lie.
  3. In the country the darkness of night is friendly and familiar, but in a city, with its blaze of lights, it is unnatural, hostile and menaci…
  4. She plunged into a sea of platitudes, and with the powerful breast stroke of a channel swimmer made her confident way towards the white cli…
  5. There is no object to life. To nature nothing matters but the continuation of the species.
  6. Things were easier for the old novelists who saw people all of a piece. Speaking generally, their heroes were good through and through, the…
  7. Few misfortunes can befall a boy which bring worse consequences than to have a really affectionate mother.
  8. It was not till quite late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say: 'I don't know.'

All William Somerset Maugham quotes