W. Somerset Maugham, (1874-1965) British novelist and playwright. Quotes

The passing moment is all we can be sure of; it is only common sense to extract its utmost value from it.

I found that money was like a sixth sense without which you could not make the most of the other five.

The world is quickly bored by the recital of misfortune, and willingly avoids the sight of distress.

Loving-kindness is the better part of goodness.

There is no explanation for evil. It must be looked upon as a necessary part of the order of the universe. To ignore it is childish, to bewail it, senseless.

You know, of course, that the Tasmanians, who never committed adultery, are now extinct.

You can do anything in this world if you are prepared to take the consequences.

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.

I am told that today rather more than per cent of the men who go to university go on a Government grant. This is a new class that has entered upon the scene. It is the white-collar proletariat. They do not go to university to acquire culture but to get a job, and when they have got one, scamp it. They have no manners and are woefully unable to deal with any social predicament. Their idea of a celebration is to go to a public house and drink six beers. They are mean, malicious and envious . They are scum.

No one can write a best seller by trying to. He must write with complete sincerity; the clichés that make you laugh, the hackneyed characters, the well-worn situations, the commonplace story that excites your derision, seem neither hackneyed, well worn nor commonplace to him. The conclusion is obvious: you cannot write anything that will convince unless you are yourself convinced. The best seller sells because he writes with his heart's blood.