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W. Somerset Maugham Quotes - Page 4

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The future will one day be the present and will seem as unimportant as the present does now.

The future will one day be the present and will seem as unimportant as the present does now.

W. Somerset Maugham
One Day, Doe, Seems
W. Somerset Maugham (2010). “The Summing Up”, p.50, Random House

My own belief is that there is hardly anyone whose sexual life, if it were broadcast, would not fill the world at large with surprise and horror.

W. Somerset Maugham
Life, Sex, Gay
"Somerset Maugham". Book by Ted Morgan, 1980.

You know, there are two good things in life, freedom of thought and freedom of action. In France you get freedom of action: you can do what you like and nobody bothers, but you must think like everybody else. In Germany you must do what everybody else does, but you may think as you choose. They're both very good things. I personally prefer freedom of thought. But in England you get neither: you're ground down by convention. You can't think as you like and you can't act as you like. That's because it's a democratic nation. I expect America's worse.

W. Somerset Maugham
Thinking, Things In Life, Two

I have an idea that the only thing which makes it possible to regard this world we live in without disgust is the beauty which now and then men create out of the chaos. The pictures they paint, the music they compose, the books they write, and the lives they lead. Of all these the richest in beauty is the beautiful life. That is the perfect work of art.

W. Somerset Maugham
Beautiful, Art, Book

A man who is a politician at forty is a statesman at three score and ten. It is at this age, when he would be too old to be a clerk or a gardener or a police-court magistrate, that he is ripe to govern a country.

W. Somerset Maugham
Country, Men, Police
W. Somerset Maugham (1930). “Cakes and Ale”

Often the best way to overcome desire is to satisfy it.

W. Somerset Maugham
Temptation, Desire, Way

Any society that values wealth above freedom will lose its freedom, and will ultimately lose its wealth as well

W. Somerset Maugham
Politics, Wealth, Wells

If it is necessary sometimes to lie to others, it is always despicable to lie to oneself.

W. Somerset Maugham
Lying, Sometimes, Self Deception

The passing moment is all we can be sure of; it is only common sense to extract its utmost value from it.

W. Somerset Maugham
Life, Passing Moments, Common Sense
W. Somerset Maugham (2010). “The Summing Up”, p.50, Random House

You are not angry with people when you laugh at them. Humor teaches tolerance.

W. Somerset Maugham
Laughter, Humor, People

First, cut out all the wisdom, then cut out all the adjectives.

W. Somerset Maugham
Cutting, Adjectives, Firsts

The artist produces for the liberation of his soul. It is his nature to create as it is the nature of water to run down the hill.

W. Somerset Maugham
Running, Art, Water
W. Somerset Maugham (1954). “Mr. Maugham Himself”

People ask for criticism, but they only want praise.

W. Somerset Maugham
People, Envy, Gossip

if you'd ever had a grown-up daughter you'd know that by comparison a bucking steer is easy to manage. And as to knowing what goes on inside her - well, it's much better to pretend you're the simple, innocent old fool she almost certainly takes you for.

W. Somerset Maugham
Daughter, Mother, Simple

Unconsciously, perhaps, we treasure the power we have over people by their regard for our opinion of them, and we hate those upon whom we have no such influence.

W. Somerset Maugham
Hate, People, Treasure
W. Somerset Maugham (2013). “The Essential W. Somerset Maugham Collection”, p.1396, eBookIt.com

A good style should show no signs of effort. What is written should seem a happy accident.

W. Somerset Maugham
Writing, Effort, Style
W. Somerset Maugham (1954). “Mr. Maugham Himself”

It is dangerous to let the public behind the scenes. They are easily disillusioned and then they are angry with you, for it was the illusion they loved.

W. Somerset Maugham
Behind The Scenes, Illusion, Fame
W. Somerset Maugham (1954). “Mr. Maugham Himself”

Perfection has one grave defect: it is apt to be dull.

W. Somerset Maugham
Humility, Perfection, Dull
W. Somerset Maugham (1954). “Mr. Maugham Himself”

I'll give you my opinion of the human race in a nutshell... their heart's in the right place, but their head is a thoroughly inefficient organ.

W. Somerset Maugham
Heart, Race, Giving
The Summing Up

If forty million people say a foolish thing it does not become a wise one.

W. Somerset Maugham
Wise, People, Atheism
W. Somerset Maugham (2011). “A Writer's Notebook”, p.61, Random House

When I was young I was amazed at Plutarch's statement that the elder Cato began at the age of eighty to learn Greek. I am amazed no longer. Old age is ready to undertake tasks that youth shirked because they would take too long.

W. Somerset Maugham
Time, Learning, Long
W. Somerset Maugham (1954). “Mr. Maugham Himself”

There are times when I look over the various parts of my character with perplexity. I recognize that I am made up of several persons and that the person that at the moment has the upper hand will inevitably give place to another. But which is the real one? All of them or none?

W. Somerset Maugham
Real, Character, Hands

You learn more quickly under the guidance of experienced teachers. You waste a lot of time going down blind alleys if you have no one to lead you.

W. Somerset Maugham
Inspirational, Education, Teacher
W. Somerset Maugham (2008). “The Razor's Edge”, p.34, Random House

Most people are such fools that it is really no great compliment to say that someone is above the average.

W. Somerset Maugham
Work, Average, People

Now the answer ... is plain, but it is so unpalatable that most men will not face it. There is no reason for life and life has no meaning.

W. Somerset Maugham
Men, Atheism, Answers

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