W. Somerset Maugham Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old W. Somerset Maugham quotes, W. Somerset Maugham sayings, and W. Somerset Maugham proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.'

It is an illusion that youth is happy, an illusion of those who have lost it. W. Somerset Maugham
Affection is created by habit, community of interests, convenience and the desire of companionship. It is a comfort rather than an exhilaration. W. Somerset Maugham
Tradition is a guide and not a jailer. W. Somerset Maugham
The normal is what you find but rarely. The normal is an ideal. It is a picture that one fabricates of the average characteristics of men, and to find them all in a single man is hardly to be expected. W. Somerset Maugham
Punctuality is a compliment you pay to the intelligent and a rebuke you pay to the stupid. W. Somerset Maugham
No egoism is so insufferable as the Christian with regard to his soul. W. Somerset Maugham
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
An unfortunate thing about this world is that the good habits are much easier to give up than the bad ones. W. Somerset Maugham
Old age is ready to undertake tasks that youth shirked because they would take too long. W. Somerset Maugham
Is the string with which a sardonic destiny directs the motions of its puppets. W. Somerset Maugham
The fact that a great many people believe something is no guarantee of its truth. W. Somerset Maugham
Charm and nothing but charm at last grows a little tiresome. It's a relief then to deal with a man who isn't quite so delightful but a little more sincere. W. Somerset Maugham
No man in his heart is quite so cynical as a well-bred woman. W. Somerset Maugham
There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. W. Somerset Maugham
The future will one day be the present and will seem as unimportant as the present does now. W. Somerset Maugham
Art for art's sake makes no more sense than gin for gin's sake. W. Somerset Maugham
It is dangerous to let the public behind the scenes. They are easily disillusioned and then they are angry with you, for it was the illusion they loved. W. Somerset Maugham
The prestige you acquire by being able to tell your friends that you know famous men proves only that you are yourself of small account. W. Somerset Maugham
We learn resignation not by our own suffering, but by the suffering of others. W. Somerset Maugham
The most useful thing about a principle is that it can always be sacrificed to expediency. W. Somerset Maugham
Tolerance is another word for indifference. W. Somerset Maugham
An unfortunate thing about this world is that the good habits are much easier to give up than the bad ones. W. Somerset Maugham
The tragedy of love is indifference. W. Somerset Maugham
There are two good things in life - freedom of thought and freedom of action. W. Somerset Maugham
The ideal has many names, and beauty is but one of them. W. Somerset Maugham
Things were easier for the old novelists who saw people all of a piece. Speaking generally, their heroes were good through and through, their villains wholly bad. W. Somerset Maugham
For the complete life, the perfect pattern includes old age as well as youth and maturity. W. Somerset Maugham
Art is merely the refuge which the ingenious have invented, when they were supplied with food and women, to escape the tediousness of life. W. Somerset Maugham
The humorist has a good eye for the humbug; he does not always recognize the saint. W. Somerset Maugham
Tradition is a guide and not a jailer. W. Somerset Maugham