793 Quotes by W. Somerset Maugham

There’s always one who loves and one who lets himself be loved.

You know what the critics are. If you tell the truth they only say you’re cynical and it does an author no good to get a reputation for cynicism.

Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit. It’s a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it. Like all weak men he laid an exaggerated stress on not changing one’s mind.

Men seek but one thing in life – their pleasure.

Thank God, I can look at a sunset now without having to think how to describe it.

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.

The Riviera isn’t only a sunny place for shady people.

When married people don’t get on they can separate, but if they’re not married it’s impossible. It’s a tie that only death can sever.

If you don’t change your beliefs, your life will be like this forever. Is that good news?