W. Somerset Maugham
W. Somerset Maugham
William Somerset Maugham CHwas a British playwright, novelist and short story writer. He was among the most popular writers of his era and reputedly the highest paid author during the 1930s...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionPlaywright
Date of Birth25 January 1874
critic great human learn philosophy
The great critic must be a philosopher, for from philosophy he will learn serenity, impartiality, and the transitoriness of human things.
old-habits habit human-bondage
From old habit, unconsciously he thanked God that he no longer believed in Him.
women wish human-bondage
One can be very much in love with a woman without wishing to spend the rest of one's life with her.
asking reason human-bondage
It's asking a great deal that things should appeal to your reason as well as your sense of the aesthetic. - Of Human Bondage
mean anxiety human-bondage
There is nothing so degrading as the constant anxiety about one's means of livelihood.
art human-bondage refuge
Art is merely the refuge which the ingenious have invented, when they were supplied with food and women, to escape the tediousness of life.
worried human-bondage worst
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.
sarcastic belief human-bondage
She had a pretty gift for quotation, which is a serviceable substitute for wit.
love life human-bondage
There's always one who loves and one who lets himself be loved.
carry discovered earliest nonsense wiser
From the earliest times the old have rubbed it into the young that they are wiser than they, and before the young had discovered what nonsense this was they were old too, and it profited them to carry on the imposture.
english expect hope perfection women
Perfection is what American women expect to find in their husbands... but English women only hope to find in their butlers.
happens love man woman
Love is what happens to a man and woman who don't know each other.
befall boy bring consequences few worse
Few misfortunes can befall a boy which bring worse consequences than to have a really affectionate mother.
cute chance life-is
Life is so largely controlled by chance that its conduct can be but a perpetual improvisation.