William Somerset Maugham

Quotes

He was always seeking for a meaning in life, and here it seemed to him that a meaning was offered; but it was obscure and vague. He was profoundly troubled. He saw what looked like the truth as by flashes of lightning on a dark, stormy night you might see a mountain range. He seemed to see that a man need not leave his life to chance, but that his will was powerful; he seemed to see that self-control might be as passionate and as active as the surrender to passion; he seemed to see that the inward life might be as manifold, as varied, as rich with experience, as the life of one who conquered realms and explored unknown lands.
Of Human Bondage
I did not then know the besetting sin of woman, the passion to discuss her private affairs with anyone who is willing to listen.
p. 31
The Moon And Sixpence
It's no use crying over spilt milk, because all of the forces of the universe were bent on spilling it.
Of Human Bondage
The rain fell alike upon the just and upon the unjust, and for nothing was there a why and a wherefore.
Of Human Bondage
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.
Of Human Bondage
He had doubts about the utility of examination on subjects which had been crammed for the occasion. He wanted common sense.
Of Human Bondage
Like all weak men he laid an exaggerated stress on not changing one's mind.
Of Human Bondage
It is an illusion that youth is happy, an illusion of those who have lost it; but the young know they are wretched, for they are full of the truthless ideals which have been instilled into them, and each time they come in contact with the real they are bruised and wounded.
Of Human Bondage
I do not confer praise or blame: I accept. I am the measure of all things. I am the centre of the world.
Of Human Bondage
Art... is merely the refuge which the ingenious have invented, when they were supplied with food and women, to escape the tediousness of life.
Of Human Bondage
You know, there are two good things in life, freedom of thought and freedom of action.
Of Human Bondage

That’s all the quotes.

11 quotes in the collection · come back when we add more