Make him laugh and he will think you a trivial fellow, but bore him in the right way and your reputation is assured. W. Somerset Maugham More Quotes by W. Somerset Maugham More Quotes From W. Somerset Maugham It must be that to govern a nation you need a specific talent and that this may very well exist without general ability. W. Somerset Maugham governmentmayneeds The humorist has a good eye for the humbug; he does not always recognize the saint. W. Somerset Maugham humoreyedoe Clearly much that seemed valid seemed so only because he had been taught it from earliest youth. W. Somerset Maugham taughtyouthprejudice So long as some are strong and some are weak, the weak will be driven to the wall. W. Somerset Maugham wallstrengthstrong Our natural egoism leads us to judge people by their relations to ourselves. We want them to be certain things to us, and for us that is what they are; because the rest of them is no good to us, we ignore it. W. Somerset Maugham judgingwantpeople There is no more merit in being able to attach a correct description to a picture than in being able to find out what is wrong with a stalled motorcar. In each case it is special knowledge. W. Somerset Maugham ablespecialknowledge Love is not always blind and there are few things that cause greater wretchedness than to love with all your heart someone who you know is unworthy of love. W. Somerset Maugham who-you-knowheartlove When a man's in love, he at once makes a pedestal of the Ten Commandments and stands on the top of them with his arms akimbo. When a woman's in love she doesn't care two straws for Thou Shalt and Thou Shalt Not. W. Somerset Maugham pedestalmentwo The spirit is often most free when the body is satiated with pleasure; indeed, sometimes the stars shine more brightly seen from the gutter than from the hilltop. W. Somerset Maugham guttersstarsshining Some American delusions: 1) That there is no class-consciousness in the country. 2) That American coffee is good. 3) That Americans are business-like. 4) That Americans are highly-sexed and that redheads are more highly sexed than others. W. Somerset Maugham coffeecountrytravel Sentimentality is the only sentiment that rubs you the wrong way. W. Somerset Maugham sentimentssentimentalway To bear failure with courage is the best proof of character that anyone can give... You will find that people forget the failures of others very quickly.... My last piece of advice is not to let anyone see your mortification, but whatever you fancy people are saying about you to go on with your ordinary life as though nothing unpleasant had happened to you. W. Somerset Maugham failurecharacterpeople He did not care upon what terms he satisfied his passion. He had even a mad, melodramatic idea to drug her. W. Somerset Maugham madpassionideas It's asking a great deal that things should appeal to your reason as well as your sense of the aesthetic. - Of Human Bondage W. Somerset Maugham human-bondageaskingreason There was once a professor of law who said to his students. When you are fighting a case, if you have facts on your side hammer them into the jury, and if you have the law on your side hammer it into the judge. But if you have neither the facts nor the law, asked one of his listeners? Then hammer the hell into the table, answered the professor. W. Somerset Maugham your-sidefightinglaw This love was a torment, and he resented bitterly the subjugation in which it held him; he was a prisoner and he longed for freedom. Sometimes he awoke in the morning and felt nothing; his soul leaped, for he thought he was free; he loved no longer; but in a little while, as he grew wide awake, the pain settled in his heart, and he knew that he was not cured yet. W. Somerset Maugham painheartmorning 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 in them, and each time they come into contact with the real, they are bruised and wounded. W. Somerset Maugham youthrealtruth Genius is talent provided with ideals. W. Somerset Maugham idealstalentgenius You Europeans know nothing about America. Because we amass large fortunes you think we care for nothing but money. We are nothing for it; the moment we have it we spend it, sometimes well, sometimes ill, but we spend it. Money is nothing to us; it's merely the symbol of success. We are the greatest idealists in the world; I happen to think that we've set our ideal on the wrong objects; I happen to think that the greatest ideal man can set before himself is self-perfection. W. Somerset Maugham menamericathinking Women's hearts are like old china, none the worse for a break or two. W. Somerset Maugham womenhearttwo
