Author Profile
W. Somerset Maugham
1874 – 1965 • British • Playwright
65
Total Quotes
Collected Meditations
Showing 65 quotesIt wasn't until late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say, 'I don't know.'— W. Somerset Maugham
Let us develop the resources of our land, call forth its powers, build up its institutions, promote all its great interests, and see whether we also, in our day and generation, may not perform something worthy to be remembered.— W. Somerset Maugham
The world is quickly bored by the recital of misfortune, and willing avoids the sight of distress.— W. Somerset Maugham
In the country the darkness of night is friendly and familiar, but in a city, with its blaze of lights, it is unnatural, hostile and menacing. It is like a monstrous vulture that hovers, biding its time.— W. Somerset Maugham
What has influenced my life more than any other single thing has been my stammer. Had I not stammered I would probably... have gone to Cambridge as my brothers did, perhaps have become a don and every now and then published a dreary book about French literature.— W. Somerset Maugham
There is no explanation for evil. It must be looked upon as a necessary part of the order of the universe. To ignore it is childish, to bewail it senseless.— W. Somerset Maugham
Perfection is a trifle dull. It is not the least of life's ironies that this, which we all aim at, is better not quite achieved.— W. Somerset Maugham
In Hollywood, the women are all peaches. It makes one long for an apple occasionally.— W. Somerset Maugham
A man marries to have a home, but also because he doesn't want to be bothered with sex and all that sort of thing.— W. Somerset Maugham