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" Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit. "

W. Somerset Maugham

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" It is not wealth one asks for, but just enough to preserve one's dignity, to work unhampered, to be generous, frank and independent. "

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" I'll give you my opinion of the human race in a nutshell... their heart's in the right place, but their head is a thoroughly inefficient organ. "

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" We learn resignation not by our own suffering, but by the suffering of others. "

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" Beauty is an ecstasy; it is as simple as hunger. There is really nothing to be said about it. It is like the perfume of a rose: you can smell it and that is all. "

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" Money is the string with which a sardonic destiny directs the motions of its puppets. "

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" The most useful thing about a principle is that it can always be sacrificed to expediency. "

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" The trouble with young writers is that they are all in their sixties. "

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" Tradition is a guide and not a jailer. "

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" When I read a book I seem to read it with my eyes only, but now and then I come across a passage, perhaps only a phrase, which has a meaning for me, and it becomes part of me. "

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" There are two good things in life - freedom of thought and freedom of action. "

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" The artist produces for the liberation of his soul. It is his nature to create as it is the nature of water to run down the hill. "

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" An unfortunate thing about this world is that the good habits are much easier to give up than the bad ones. "

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" Sentimentality is the only sentiment that rubs you the wrong way. "

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" The common idea that success spoils people by making them vain, egotistic and self-complacent is erroneous; on the contrary it makes them, for the most part, humble, tolerant and kind. "

W. Somerset Maugham

" Considering how foolishly people act and how pleasantly they prattle, perhaps it would be better for the world if they talked more and did less. "

W. Somerset Maugham

" You know what the critics are. If you tell the truth they only say you're cynical and it does an author no good to get a reputation for cynicism. "

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" Perfection is a trifle dull. It is not the least of life's ironies that this, which we all aim at, is better not quite achieved. "

W. Somerset Maugham

" It is not true that suffering ennobles the character; happiness does that sometimes, but suffering for the most part, makes men petty and vindictive. "

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" I would sooner read a time-table or a catalogue than nothing at all. They are much more entertaining than half the novels that are written. "

W. Somerset Maugham

" Love is only a dirty trick played on us to achieve continuation of the species. "

W. Somerset Maugham

" Men have an extraordinarily erroneous opinion of their position in nature; and the error is ineradicable. "

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" Few misfortunes can befall a boy which bring worse consequence than to have a really affectionate mother. "

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" Every production of an artist should be the expression of an adventure of his soul. "

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" It was such a lovely day I thought it a pity to get up. "

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" If you want to eat well in England, eat three breakfasts. "

W. Somerset Maugham

" It's very hard to be a gentleman and a writer. "

W. Somerset Maugham

" At a dinner party one should eat wisely but not too well, and talk well but not too wisely. "

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" It seems that the creative faculty and the critical faculty cannot exist together in their highest perfection. "

W. Somerset Maugham

" In Hollywood, the women are all peaches. It makes one long for an apple occasionally. "

W. Somerset Maugham

" Money is like a sixth sense without which you cannot make a complete use of the other five. "

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