187 quotes
It is unsafe to take your reader for more of a fool than he is.
Ten Novels and Their Authors (1954)
"Aren't you missing a lot of fun? You know, one's young for such a little while."
Christmas Holiday (1939)
Tahiti is very far away, and I knew that I should never see it again. A chapter of my life was closed, and I felt a little nearer to inevitable death.
The Moon and Sixpence (1919)
Whatever anguish she suffered she concealed. She saw shrewdly that the world is quickly bored by the recital of misfortune, and willingly avoids the sight of distress.
The Moon and Sixpence (1919)
I am a little shy of any assumption of moral indignation. There is always in it an element of self-satisfaction which makes it awkward to anyone who has a sense of humour.
The Moon and Sixpence (1919)
You are not angry with people when you laugh at them. Humour teaches tolerance, and the humorist, with a smile and perhaps a sigh, is more likely to shrug his shoulders than to condemn.
The Summing Up (1938)
The rain fell alike upon the just and upon the unjust, and for nothing was there a why and a wherefore.
Of Human Bondage (1915)
Observing these people I am no longer surprised that there is such a scarcity of domestic servants back home.
Of course it was cause and effect, but in the necessity with which follows the other lay all tragedy of life.
Of Human Bondage (1915)
I have been forced to conclude from this that we know our friends by their defects rather than by their merits.
The Summing Up (1938)
It's no good trying to keep up old friendships. It's painful for both sides. The fact is, one grows out of people, and the only thing is to face it.
Cakes and Ale: Or, The Skeleton in the Cupboard (1930)
There is a sort of man who pays no attention to his good actions, but is tormented by his bad ones. This is the type that most often writes about himself.
The Summing Up (1938)
Impropriety is the soul of wit.
The Moon and Sixpence (1919)
A woman will always sacrifice herself if you give her the opportunity. It is her favourite form of self-indulgence.
The Circle (1921)
I don't think of the past. The only thing that matters is the everlasting present.
The Moon and Sixpence (1919)
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.
The Summing Up (1938)
I have not been afraid of excess: excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit.
The Summing Up (1938)
Life wouldn't be worth living if I worried over the future as well as the present. When things are at their worst I find something always happens.
Of Human Bondage (1915)
It's no use crying over spilt milk, because all of the forces of the universe were bent on spilling it.
Of Human Bondage (1915)
He had heard people speak contemptuously of money: he wondered if they had ever tried to do without it.
Of Human Bondage (1915)