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Perfect is determined in shortened measures of time, not over long periods of time or lifetimes. It would be unnatural.
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
Periods
Perfect
Shortened
Long
Lifetimes
Would
Unnatural
Time
Measures
Determined
Lifetime
Perfection
More quotes by W. Somerset Maugham
You're beginning to dislike me, aren't you? Well, dislike me. It doesn't make any difference to me now.
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It has been said that good prose should resemble the conversation of a well-bred man.
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There's no one as transparent as the person who thinks he's devilish deep.
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It is a nuisance that knowledge can only be acquired by hard work.
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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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One can be very much in love with a woman without wishing to spend the rest of one's life with her.
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He did not care upon what terms he satisfied his passion. He had even a mad, melodramatic idea to drug her.
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When we come to judge others it is not by ourselves as we really are that we judge them, but by an image that we have formed of ourselves from which we have left out everything that offends our vanity or would discredit us in the eyes of the world.
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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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Nothing in the world is permanent, and we’re foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we’re still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it.
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It is clear that men accept an immediate pain rather than an immediate pleasure, but only because they expect a greater pleasure in the future. Often the pleasure is illusory, but their error in calculation is no refutation of the rule.
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The last words he said to me when I bade him good-night were: Tell Amy it's no good coming after me. Anyhow, I shall change my hotel, so she wouldn't be able to find me.' My own impression is that she's well rid of you,' I said. My dear fellow, I only hope you'll be able to make her see it. But women are very unintelligent.
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I'm afraid you've thought me a bigger fool than I am.
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The great American novel has not only already been written, it has already been rejected.
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Charm and nothing but charm at last grows a little tiresome. It's a relief then to deal with a man who isn't quite so delightful but a little more sincere.
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The tragedy of love is indifference.
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Words have weight, sound and appearance it is only by considering these that you can write a sentence that is good to look at and good to listen to.
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She had no mercy. He looked at her neck and thought how he would like to jab it with the knife he had for his muffin. He knew enough anatomy to make pretty certain of getting the carotid artery. And at the same time he wanted to cover her pale, thin face with kisses.
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You can do anything in this world if you are prepared to take the consequences.
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I am sick of this way of life. The weariness and sadness of old age make it intolerable. I have walked with death in hand, and death's own hand is warmer than my own. I don't wish to live any longer.
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