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There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.
W. Somerset Maugham
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W. Somerset Maugham
Age: 90 †
Born: 1874
Born: January 1
Died: 1965
Died: January 1
Army Scout
Literary Critic
Novelist
Physician Writer
Playwright
Prosaist
Screenwriter
Writer
Paris
France
W. Somerset Maugham
Somerset Maugham
Unfortunately
Rules
Novel
Three
Writing
More quotes by W. Somerset Maugham
People ask for criticism, but they only want praise.
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There are many foolish people in the world and when a man in a rather high position puts on no frills, slaps them on the back, and tells them he'll do anything in the world for them, they are very likely to think him clever.
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Women are constantly trying to commit suicide for love, but generally they take care not to succeed.
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In the country the darkness of night is friendly and familiar, but in a city, with its blaze of lights, it is unnatural, hostile and menacing. It is like a monstrous vulture that hovers, biding its time.
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One cannot find peace in work or in pleasure, in the world or in a convent, but only in one's soul.
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The important thing was to love rather than to be loved.
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No woman is worth more than a fiver unless you're in love with her. Then she's worth all she costs you.
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It is cruel to discover one's mediocrity only when it is too late. It does not improve the temper.
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The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit.
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Art is merely the refuge which the ingenious have invented, when they were supplied with food and women, to escape the tediousness of life.
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By the time an actor knows how to act any sort of part he is often too old to act any but a few.
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The writer of prose can only step aside when the poet passes...
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Never pause unless you have a reason for it, but when you pause, pause as long as you can.
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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.
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Writing is a wholetime job: no professional writer can afford only to write when he feels like it.
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Now the answer ... is plain, but it is so unpalatable that most men will not face it. There is no reason for life and life has no meaning.
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Art is a manifestation of emotion, and emotion speaks a language that all may understand.
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A woman may be as wicked as she likes, but if she isn't pretty it won't do her much good.
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Affection is created by habit, community of interests, convenience and the desire of companionship. It is a comfort rather than an exhilaration.
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There are times when I look over the various parts of my character with perplexity. I recognize that I am made up of several persons and that the person that at the moment has the upper hand will inevitably give place to another. But which is the real one? All of them or none?
W. Somerset Maugham
