You cannot write well or much (and I venture the opinion that you cannot write well unless you write much) unless you form a habit. W. Somerset Maugham More Quotes by W. Somerset Maugham More Quotes From W. Somerset Maugham It is bad enough to know the past; it would be intolerable to know the future. W. Somerset Maugham enoughwould-bepast A state of reverie does not avoid reality, it accedes to reality. W. Somerset Maugham statesdoereality A good story is obviously a difficult thing to invent, but its difficulty is a poor reason for despising it. W. Somerset Maugham poorreasonstories There are directors who desire to be artistic. It is pathetic to compare the seriousness of their aim with the absurdity of their attainment. W. Somerset Maugham artisticdesiredirectors There is no need for the writer to eat a whole sheep to be able to tell you what mutton tastes like. It is enough if he eats a cutlet. But he should do that. W. Somerset Maugham ablesheepneeds A novelist must preserve a childlike belief in the importance of things which common sense considers of no great consequence. W. Somerset Maugham common-sensenovelistsbelief A man filled with meat turns his back on the dry bones of political doctrine. Fanatical devotion to the ruling party comes more readily from the materially deprived At a dinner party one should eat wisely but not too well, and talk well but not too wisely. W. Somerset Maugham dry-bonespartymen Dullness is the first requisite of a good husband. W. Somerset Maugham good-husbandhusbandfirsts No married man's ever made up his mind until he's heard what his wife has got to say about it. W. Somerset Maugham wifemindmen [Money] is the string with which a sardonic destiny directs the motions of its puppets. W. Somerset Maugham stringspuppetsdestiny Old age has its pleasures, which, though different, are not less than the pleasures of youth. W. Somerset Maugham agetimebirthday Music-hall songs provide the dull with wit, just as proverbs provide them with wisdom. W. Somerset Maugham witsongdull We are like people living in a country whose language they know so little that, with all manner of beautiful and profound things to say, they are condemned to the banalities of the conversation manual. Their brain is seething with ideas, and they can only tell you that the umbrella of the gardener's aunt is in the house. W. Somerset Maugham auntbeautifulcountry You are not angry with people when you laugh at them. Humour teaches tolerance, and the humorist, with a smile and perhaps a sigh, is more likely to shrug his shoulders than to condemn. W. Somerset Maugham tolerancelaughingpeople You must not pursue a success, but fly from it. W. Somerset Maugham pursue Illusions are like umbrellas - you no sooner get them than you lose them, and the loss always leaves a little painful wound. W. Somerset Maugham painfullosslittles There is no explanation for evil. It must be looked upon as a necessary part of the order of the universe. To ignore it is childish, to bewail it senseless. W. Somerset Maugham atheismevilorder There is no object to life. To nature nothing matters but the continuation of the species. W. Somerset Maugham continuationspeciesmatter The great trues are too important to be new. W. Somerset Maugham important The subjunctive mood is in its death throes, and the best thing to do is to put it out of its misery as soon as possible. W. Somerset Maugham miserythings-to-domood
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