Habits in writing as in life are only useful if they are broken as soon as they cease to be advantageous. W. Somerset Maugham More Quotes by W. Somerset Maugham More Quotes From W. Somerset Maugham Insensibly he formed the most delightful habit in the world, the habit of reading: he did not know that thus he was providing himself with a refuge from all the distress of life; he did not know either that he was creating for himself an unreal world which would make the real world of every day a source of bitter disappointment. W. Somerset Maugham realdisappointmentreading People ask for criticism, but they only want praise. W. Somerset Maugham gossipenvypeople Loving-kindness is the better part of goodness. It lends grace to the sterner qualities of which this consists. W. Somerset Maugham qualitygracekindness You will find as you grow older that the first thing needful to make the world a tolerable place to live in is to recognize the inevitable selfishness of humanity. You demand unselfishness from others, which is a preposterous claim that they should sacrifice their desires to yours. Why should they? When you are reconciled to the fact that each is for himself in the world you will ask less from your fellows. They will not disappoint you, and you will look upon them more charitably. Men seek but one thing in life -- their pleasure. W. Somerset Maugham things-in-lifesacrificemen Imagination grows by exercise. W. Somerset Maugham creativeimaginationexercise I know that I shall die struggling for breath, and I know that I shall be horribly afraid. I know that I shall not be able to keep myself from regretting bitterly the life that has brought me to such a pass; but I disown that regret. I now, weak, old, diseased, poor, dying, hold still my soul in my hands, and I regret nothing. W. Somerset Maugham regretstrugglehands I've always been interested in people, but I've never liked them. W. Somerset Maugham literaturefunnypeople The ballet. I saw in the fugitive beauty of a dancer's gesture a symbol of life. It was achieved at the cost of unending effort but, with all the forces of gravity against it, a fleeting poise in mid-air, a lovely attitude worthy to be made immortal in a bas-relief, it was lost as soon as it was gained and there remained no more than the memory of an exquisite emotion. So life, lived variously and largely, becomes a work of art only when brought to its beautiful conclusion and is reduced to nothingness in the moment when it arrives at perfection. W. Somerset Maugham dancebeautifulart You learn more quickly under the guidance of experienced teachers. You waste a lot of time going down blind alleys if you have no one to lead you. W. Somerset Maugham educationteacherinspirational I've met so many people, often the scum of the earth, and found them, you know, quite decent. I am an uncomfortable stranger to moral indignation. W. Somerset Maugham scum-of-the-earthmoralpeople For men, as a rule, love is but an episode which takes place among the other affairs of the day, and the emphasis laid on it in novels gives it an importance which is untrue to life. There are few men to whom it is the most important thing in the world, and they are not the very interesting ones; even women, with whom the subject is of paramount interest, have a contempt for them. W. Somerset Maugham love-ismeninteresting Perhaps some deep-rooted atavism urges the wanderer back to lands which his ancestors left in the dim beginnings of history. Sometimes a man hits upon a place to which he mysteriously feels that he belongs. Here is the home he sought, and he will settle amid scenes that he has never seen before, among men he has never known, as though they were familiar to him from his birth. Here at last he finds rest. W. Somerset Maugham landhomemen Refecting on the high divorce rate in America as contrasted with England "American women expect to find in their husbands a perfection that English women only hope to find in their butlers W. Somerset Maugham divorcehusbandamerica Most people are such fools that it is really no great compliment to say that someone is above the average. W. Somerset Maugham workaveragepeople No woman is worth more than a fiver unless you're in love with her. Then she's worth all she costs you. W. Somerset Maugham womencost Beauty is also a Gift of God, one of the most rare and precious, and we should be thankful if we are happy enough to possess it and thankful, if we are not, that others possess it for our pleasure. W. Somerset Maugham being-thankfulpleasureenough Beauty is something wonderful and strange that the artist fashions out of the chaos of the world in the torment of his soul. W. Somerset Maugham fashionbeautifulbeauty The day broke grey and dull. The clouds hung heavily, and there was a rawness in the air that suggested snow. A woman servant came into a room in which a child was sleeping and drew the curtains. She glanced mechanically at the house opposite, a stucco house with a portico, and went to the child's bed. W. Somerset Maugham sleepbookchildren For the complete life, the perfect pattern includes old age as well as youth and maturity. W. Somerset Maugham maturityageperfect Unconsciously, perhaps, we treasure the power we have over people by their regard for our opinion of them, and we hate those upon whom we have no such influence. W. Somerset Maugham treasurehatepeople
