William Somerset Maugham Quotes

...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 cynicism.

... habits in writing as in life are only useful if they are broken as soon as they cease to be advantageous.

And then he felt the misery of his life.

It's a long, arduous road he's starting to travel, but it may be that at the end of it he'll find what's he's seeking.

Poor slut, I think she loves me,' said Gray, his eyes closed.

I was astonished to see him in Baghdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.

She was a fool and he knew it and because he loved her it had made no difference.

There are men who are possessed by an urge so strong to do some particular thing that they can't help themselves, they've got to do it. They're prepared to sacrifice everything to satisfy their yearning.

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

"I don't believe in the god of the Christians who gave his son in order to save mankind. That's a myth. But why should it have arisen if it didn't express some deep-seated intuition in men? I don't know what I believe, because it's instinctive, and how can you describe an instinct with words? I have an instinct that the power that rules us, human beings, animals and things, is a dark and cruel power and that everything has to be paid for, a power that demands an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, and that though we may writhe and squirm we have to submit, for the power is ourselves."

I thought I should be a fool to allow work to interfere with a delight in the passing moment that I might never enjoy again so fully.

Old age is ready to undertake tasks that youth shirked because they would take too long.

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

She’s wonderful. Tell her I’ve never seen such beautiful hands. I wonder what she sees in you.”
Waddington, smiling, translated the question.
“She says I’m good.”
“As if a woman ever loved a man for his virtue,” Kitty mocked.

You don't know the difference between truth and make-believe. You never stop acting. It's second nature to you. You act when there's a party here. You act to the servants, you act to father, you act to me. To me you act the part of the fond, indulgent, celebrated mother. You don't exist, you're only the innumerable parts you've played. I've often wondered if there was ever a you or if you were never anything more than a vehicle for all these other people that you've pretended to be. When I've seen you go into an empty room I've sometimes wanted to open the door suddenly, but I've been afraid to in case I found nobody there.