If forty million people say a foolish thing it does not become a wise one.
W. SOMERSET MAUGHAMPeople ask for criticism, but they only want praise.
More W. Somerset Maugham Quotes
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An unfortunate thing about this world is that the good habits are much easier to give up than the bad ones.
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I made up my mind long ago that life was too short to do anything for myself that I could pay others to do for me.
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Tolerance is only another name for indifference.
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I am told that today rather more than 60 per cent of the men who go to university go on a Government grant. This is a new class that has entered upon the scene. It is the white-collar proletariat. They do not go to university to acquire culture but to get a job, and when they have got one, scamp it.
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It’s no use crying over spilt milk, because all of the forces of the universe were bent on spilling it.
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What do we any of us have but our illusions? And what do we ask of others but that we be allowed to keep them?
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Why should you think that beauty, which is the most precious thing in the world, lies like a stone on the beach for the careless passer-by to pick up idly?
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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.
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It is dangerous to let the public behind the scenes. They are easily disillusioned and then they are angry with you, for it was the illusion they loved.
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You know, of course, that the Tasmanians, who never committed adultery, are now extinct.
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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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The Almighty can hardly be such a fool as the churches make out.
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Of all these the richest in beauty is the beautiful life. That is the perfect work of art.
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He had heard people speak contemptuously of money: he wondered if they had ever tried to do without it.
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There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.
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We who are of mature age seldom suspect how unmercifully and yet with what insight the very young judge us.
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It’s a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.
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I’ll give you my opinion of the human race in a nutshell… their heart’s in the right place, but their head is a thoroughly inefficient organ.
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We must be very humble. We must see the beauty of quietness. We must go through life so inconspicuously that Fate does not notice us. And let us seek the love of simple, ignorant people. Their ignorance is better than all our knowledge.
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When you are young you take the kindness people show you as your right.
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Life is so largely controlled by chance that its conduct can be but a perpetual improvisation.
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He is not famous. It may be that he never will be. It may be that when his life at last comes to an end he will leave no more trace of his sojourn on earth than a stone thrown into a river leaves on the surface of the water.
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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.
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Dullness is the first requisite of a good husband.
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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.
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We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person.
W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM