Common-sense appears to be only another name for the thoughtlessness of the unthinking. It is made of the prejudices of childhood, the idiosyncrasies of individual character and the opinion of the newspapers.
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 MaughamSheโs wonderful. Tell her Iโve never seen such beautiful hands. I wonder what she sees in you.โ Waddington, smiling, translated the question. โShe says Iโm good.โ โAs if a woman ever loved a man for his virtue,โ Kitty mocked.
W. Somerset MaughamThe first duty of a woman is to be pretty, the second is to be well-groomed, and the third is never to contradict.
W. Somerset MaughamUnconsciously, perhaps, we treasure the power we have over people by their regard for our opinion of them, and we hate those upon whom we have no such influence.
W. Somerset MaughamBut I am not sure it would contain any short stories. For the short story is a minor art, and it must content itself with moving, exciting and amusing the reader. ...I do not think that there is any (short story) that will give the reader that thrill, that rapture, that fruitful energy which great art can produce.
W. Somerset Maugham