William Somerset Maugham Quotes

English playwright and author (1874–1965)

Add quote

William Somerset Maugham (25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English playwright, novelist, and short story writer; often published as simply W. Somerset Maugham.

From: Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Alternative Names: W. Somerset Maugham • Somerset Maugham

From Wikidata (CC0)

Showing quotes in randomized order to avoid selection bias. Click Popular for most popular quotes.

It's no use crying over spilt milk, because all of the forces of the universe were bent on spilling it.

I have been forced to conclude from this that we know our friends by their defects rather than by their merits.

This love was a torment, and he resented bitterly the subjugation in which it held him; he was a prisoner and he longed for freedom.

Sometimes he awoke in the morning and felt nothing; his soul leaped, for he thought he was free; he loved no longer; but in a little while, as he grew wide awake, the pain settled in his heart, and he knew that he was not cured yet.

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

The tragedy of love is indifference.

When you choose your friends, don't be short-changed by choosing personality over character.

I do not believe that I am a vindictive man, but when the immortal gods take a hand in the matter it is pardonable to observe the results with complacency.

The modern clergyman has acquired in his study of the science which I believe is called exegesis an astonishing facility for explaining things away.

Art is merely the refuge which the ingenious have invented, when they were supplied with food and women, to escape the tediousness of life.

We can none of us step into the same river twice, but the river flows on and the other river we step into is cool and refreshing, too

It might be that to surrender to happiness was to accept defeat, but it was a defeat better than many victories.

"Do you absolutely despise me, Walter?"
"No." He hesitated and his voice was strange. "I despise myself."

It was not till quite late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say: "I don't know."

Sometimes people carry to such perfection the mask they have assumed that in due course they actually become the person they seem.

Remember that it is nothing to do your duty, that is demanded of you and is no more meritorious than to wash your hands when they are dirty; the only thing that counts is the love of duty; when love and duty are one, then grace is in you and you will enjoy a happiness which passes all understanding.