W. Somerset Maugham Quotes

There is nothing so terrible as the pursuit of art by those who have no talent.

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.

It’s no good trying to keep up old friendships. It’s painful for both sides. The fact is, one grows out of people, and the only thing is to face it.

Life wouldn’t be worth living if I worried over the future as well as the present. When things are at their worst I find something always happens.

There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.

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.

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

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.