Everyone had some defect, or body or of mind: he thought of all the people he had known (the whole world was like a sick house and there was no rhyme or reason in it), he saw a long procession, deformed in body, warped in mind, some with illness of the flesh, weak hearts or weak lungs, and some with illness of the spirit, languor of will, or craving for liquor. At that moment he felt a holy compassion for them all. โฆThe words of the dying God crossed his memory: Forgive them, for they know not what they do.
W. Somerset MaughamAn unfortunate thing about this world is that the good habits are much easier to give up than the bad ones.
W. Somerset MaughamThe inclination to digress is human. But the dramatist must avoid it even more strenuously than the saint must avoid sin, for while sin may be venial, digression is mortal.
W. Somerset MaughamIf it is necessary sometimes to lie to others, it is always despicable to lie to oneself.
W. Somerset MaughamInsensibly he formed the most delightful habit in the world, the habit of reading: he did not know that thus he was providing himself with a refuge from all the distress of life; he did not know either that he was creating for himself an unreal world which would make the real world of every day a source of bitter disappointment.
W. Somerset Maugham