More from William Somerset Maugham

  1. It's very hard to be a gentleman and a writer.
  2. The writer of prose can only step aside when the poet passes:
  3. :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…
  4. 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…
  5. 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…
  6. I have not been afraid of excess: excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit.
  7. 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…
  8. :the future will one day be the present and will seem as unimportant as the present does now.

All William Somerset Maugham quotes