More from William Somerset Maugham

  1. :you know what the critics are. If you tell the truth they only say you're cynical and it does an author no good to get a reputation for cy…
  2. :when you are young you take the kindness people show you as your right:
  3. Beauty is an ecstasy; it is as simple as hunger. There is really nothing to be said about it. It is like the perfume of a rose: you can sme…
  4. The writer of prose can only step aside when the poet passes:
  5. It's no good trying to keep up old friendships. It's painful for both sides. The fact is, one grows out of people, and the only thing is to…
  6. I would sooner read a time-table or a catalogue than nothing at all. : They are much more entertaining than half the novels that are writte…
  7. Sometimes people carry to such perfection the mask they have assumed that in due course they actually become the person they seem.
  8. I have not been afraid of excess: excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit.

All William Somerset Maugham quotes