793 Quotes by W. Somerset Maugham

A woman attracts men by her charm and holds them by their vices.

You've been brought up like a gentleman and a Christian, and I should be false to the trust laid upon me by your dead father and mother if I allowed you to expose yourself to such temptation.'Well, I know I'm not a Christian and I'm beginning to doubt whether I'm a gentleman,' said Philip.

No egoism is so insufferable as the Christian with regard to his soul.

She says it's really not very flattering to her that the women who fall in love with her husband are so uncommonly second-rate.

A writer need not devour a whole sheep in order to know what mutton tastes like, but he must at least eat a chop. Unless he gets his facts right, his imagination will lead him into all kinds of nonsense, and the facts he is most likely to get right are the facts of his own experience.

Women are constantly trying to commit suicide for love, but generally they take care not to succeed.

Marriage is a very good thing, but I think it’s a mistake to make a habit of it.

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.

What d'you suppose I care if I'm a gentleman or not? If I were a gentleman I shouldn't waste my time with a vulgar slut like you.