It needs a good deal of philosophy not to be mortified by the thought of persons who have voluntarily abandoned everything that for the most of us makes life worth living and are devoid of envy of what they have missed. I have never made up my mind whether they are fools or wise men.
W. Somerset MaughamFew misfortunes can befall a boy which bring worse consequence than to have a really affectionate mother.
W. Somerset MaughamIt must be that to govern a nation you need a specific talent and that this may very well exist without general ability.
W. Somerset MaughamI have an idea that the only thing which makes it possible to regard this world we live in without disgust is the beauty which now and then men create out of the chaos.
W. Somerset MaughamThings 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