William Somerset Maugham

It may be that if I lead the life I've planned for myself it may affect others; the effect may be no greater than the ripple caused by a stone thrown in a pond, but one ripple causes another.

Almost all the people who have had most effect on me I seem to have met by chance.

She plunged into a sea of platitudes, and with the powerful breast stroke of a channel swimmer made her confident way towards the white cliffs of the obvious.

There is no object to life. To nature nothing matters but the continuation of the species.

He found himself now in the agreeable situation of being able to do what was best for others and at the same time what was convenient to himself.

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.

It was not till quite late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say: "I don't know."

Passion doesn't count the cost. ... Passion is destructive.

Few misfortunes can befall a boy which bring worse consequences than to have a really affectionate mother.

Women are always glad to listen when you discourse upon love...

Considering how foolishly people act and how pleasantly they prattle, perhaps it would be better for the world if they talked more and did less.

Things were easier for the old novelists who saw people all of a piece. Speaking generally, their heroes were good through and through, their villains wholly bad.