18 Quotes by Somerset Maugham

Often the best way to overcome desire is to satisfy it.

You know, there are two good things in life, freedom of thought and freedom of action.

Himself an ugly man, insignificantof appearance, he prized very highly comeliness in others.

Art is merely the refuge which the ingenious have invented, when they were supplied with food and women, to escape the tediousness of life.

Money is like a sixth sense without which you cannot make a complete use of the other five. Without an adequate income half the possibilities of life are shut off. (387)

The only important thing in a book is the meaning that it has for you.

Great writers create; writers of smaller gifts copy

Poor Miss Porchester. She had sacrificed herself on the altar of Victorian morality, and I am afraid the consciousness that she had behaved beautifully was the only benefit she had got from it.

It was clear that the will to achieve could not help you and confidence in yourself meant nothing. (362)