Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit. It's a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it. Like all weak men he laid an exaggerated stress on not changing one's mind.
W. Somerset MaughamOh, it's always the same,' she sighed, 'if you want men to behave well to you, you must be beastly to them; if you treat them decently they make you suffer for it.
W. Somerset MaughamNothing more predisposes someone in our favour than to let him rob you a little.
W. Somerset MaughamConscience is the guardian in the individual of the rules which the community has evolved for its own preservation.
W. Somerset Maugham