“We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person.” William Somerset Maugham
“When you choose your friends, don't be short-changed by choosing personality over character.” William Somerset Maugham
“It's a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.” William Somerset Maugham BestFunnyKnowledgeLifeWisdomThingGetAnythingAcceptRefuseOften
“There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” William Somerset Maugham
“Love is only a dirty trick played on us to achieve continuation of the species.” William Somerset Maugham LovePlayWiseFunDirtyAchieveOnlyTrickContinuationSpecies
“Only a mediocre person is always at his best.” William Somerset Maugham BestKnowledgeWisePersonAlwaysMediocreMediocricity
“Every production of an artist should be the expression of an adventure of his soul.” William Somerset Maugham
“The common idea that success spoils people by making them vain, egotistic and self-complacent is erroneous; on the contrary it makes them, for the most part, humble, tolerant and kind.” William Somerset Maugham
“If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom, and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that too.” William Somerset Maugham
“A man marries to have a home, but also because he doesn't want to be bothered with sex and all that sort of thing.” William Somerset Maugham
“Marriage is a very good thing, but I think it's a mistake to make a habit out of it.” William Somerset Maugham
“Death is a very dull, dreary affair, and my advice to you is to have nothing whatsoever to do with it.” William Somerset Maugham
“An unfortunate thing about this world is that the good habits are much easier to give up than the bad ones.” William Somerset Maugham
“At a dinner party one should eat wisely but not too well, and talk well but not too wisely.” William Somerset Maugham
“It is not wealth one asks for, but just enough to preserve one's dignity, to work unhampered, to be generous, frank and independent.” William Somerset Maugham
“It wasn't until late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say, 'I don't know.'” William Somerset Maugham
“Imagination grows by exercise, and contrary to common belief, is more powerful in the mature than in the young.” William Somerset Maugham
“Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit.” William Somerset Maugham
“It's no good trying to keep up old friendships. It's painful for both sides. The fact is, one grows out of people, and the only thing is to face it.” William Somerset Maugham
“I can imagine no more comfortable frame of mind for the conduct of life than a humorous resignation.” William Somerset Maugham
“If you don't change your beliefs, your life will be like this forever. Is that good news?” William Somerset Maugham
“It is not true that suffering ennobles the character; happiness does that sometimes, but suffering for the most part, makes men petty and vindictive.” William Somerset Maugham
“Beauty is an ecstasy; it is as simple as hunger. There is really nothing to be said about it. It is like the perfume of a rose: you can smell it and that is all.” William Somerset Maugham
“Any nation that thinks more of its ease and comfort than its freedom will soon lose its freedom; and the ironical thing about it is that it will lose its ease and comfort too.” William Somerset Maugham
“What makes old age hard to bear is not the failing of one's faculties, mental and physical, but the burden of one's memories.” William Somerset Maugham
“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.” William Somerset Maugham
“Old age has its pleasures, which, though different, are not less than the pleasures of youth.” William Somerset Maugham
