Often the best way to overcome desire is to satisfy it.
W. SOMERSET MAUGHAMBut it may be that the way of life that he has chosen for himself and the peculiar strength and sweetness of his character may have an ever-growing influence over his fellow men so that, long after his death perhaps, it may be realized that there lived in this age a very remarkable creature.
More W. Somerset Maugham Quotes
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If you want to eat well in England, eat three breakfasts.
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The future will one day be the present and will seem as unimportant as the present does now.
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The essential element of love is a belief in its own eternity.
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The secret to life is meaningless unless you discover it yourself.
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Life is so largely controlled by chance that its conduct can be but a perpetual improvisation.
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Any society that values wealth above freedom will lose its freedom, and will ultimately lose its wealth as well
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I wish I could make you see how much fuller the life I offer you is than anything you have a conception of.
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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.
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The beauty of the morning and the radiance of noon are good, but it would be a very silly person who drew the curtains and turned on the light in order to shut out the tranquillity of the evening. Old age has its pleasures, which, though different, are not less than the pleasures of youth.
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There is a sort of man who pays no attention to his good actions, but is tormented by his bad ones. This is the type that most often writes about himself.
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Oh, it is dreadfully bitter to look at a woman whom you have loved with all your heart and soul, so that you felt you could not bear to let her out of your sight, and realize that you would not mind if you never saw her again. The tragedy of love is indifference.
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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.
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If you don’t change your beliefs, your life will be like this forever. Is that good news?
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Words have weight, sound and appearance; it is only by considering these that you can write a sentence that is good to look at and good to listen to.
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To bear failure with courage is the best proof of character that anyone can give.
W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM