Quotes by W. Somerset Maugham

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

If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom, and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that too.

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

Marriage is a very good thing, but I think it’s a mistake to make a habit out of it.

A man marries to have a home, but also because he doesn’t want to be bothered with sex and all that sort of thing.

The love that lasts longest is the love that is never returned.

We are not the same persons this year as last nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person.

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

It’s a funny thing about life if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.

Imagination grows by exercise, and contrary to common belief, is more powerful in the mature than in the young.