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2f886a6
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I had myself been to Seville when I was twenty-three and I, too, had liked it. I liked its white, tortuous streets, its cathedral, and the wide-spreading plain of the Guadalquivir; but I liked also those Andalusian girls with their grace and their gaiety, with their dark shining eyes, the carnations in their hair stressing its blackness and by the contrast itself more vivid; I liked the rich color of their skins and the inviting sensuality ..
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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d67da99
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He had a pompous manner and the false heartiness of a cheap politician, but his eyes were frightened and unhappy. He was never quite drunk and never quite sober.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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f06fcba
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It irks me that I cannot hope with any words of mine to give an idea of the pleasantness of his voice that invested even his most casual utterances with persuasiveness, or of the constant change in his expression, from grave to gently gay, from reflective to playful, that accompanied his thoughts like the ripple of a piano when the violins with a great sweep sing the several themes of a concerto.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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98b12fa
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Philip that there were three things to find out: man's relation to the world he lives in, man's relation with the men among whom he lives, and finally man's relation
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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18d326b
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The illusion which man has that his will is free is so deeply rooted that I am ready to accept it. I act as though I were a free agent. But when an action is performed it is clear that all the forces of the universe from all eternity conspired to cause it, and nothing I could do could have prevented it. It was inevitable. If it was good I can claim no merit; if it was bad I can accept no censure.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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de4e910
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Heaven knows, I'm the easiest woman in the world to get on with, but I will not be bullied by any man. After all, I have my self-respect to think of.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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16293d9
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El hombre encuentra siempre mas facil sacrificar su vida que aprender la tabla de multiplicar.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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e879803
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contemned
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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77f244a
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The experience of life shows that people are constantly doing things which must lead to disaster, and yet by some chance manage to evade the result of their folly.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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2656d5f
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Ashenden admiraba la bondad, pero no le ofendia lo innoble. La gente le creia hombre sin corazon porque estudiaba mas que apreciaba a las personas a su alrededor, e incluso de aquellos a quienes sinceramente queria veia con claridad meridiana sus defectos y sus virtudes. Cuando alguien le gustaba, no era porque fuese ciego a sus faltas, las aceptaba con un tolerante encogerse de hombros; o porque les imaginara dotes que no poseian, y tratan..
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w. somerset maugham |
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9236f6f
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eschew
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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8b0faf0
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You must let bygones be bygones.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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61e961f
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Did Beethoven create his symphonies for his glorification? I don't believe it. I believe he created them because the music in his soul demanded expression and then all he tried to do was to make them as perfect as he knew how.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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116962c
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it has this compensation (among, let us admit, not a few others), that sometimes it gives you the opportunity of seeing what was the outcome of certain events you had witnessed long ago. You had given up the hope of ever knowing what was the end of the story, and then, when you least expected it, it is handed to you on a platter. These
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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a21a243
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The Absolute. Reality. You can't say what it is; you can only say what it isn't. It's inexpressible. It's nowhere and everywhere. All things imply and depend upon it. It's not a person, it's not a thing, it's not a cause. It has no qualities. It transcends permanence and change; whole and part, finite and infinite. It is eternal because its completeness and perfection are unrelated to time. It is truth and freedom.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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31fa478
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I found something wonderfully satisfying in the notion that you can attain Reality by knowledge. In later ages the sages of India in recognition of human infirmity admitted that salvation may be won by the way of love and the way of works, but they never denied that the noblest way, though the hardest, is the way of knowledge, for its instrument is the most precious faculty of man, his reason.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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ee2975f
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wasn't my fault, it was the circumstances. Can't you forgive me?
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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0852a7a
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people talk of beauty lightly, and having no feeling for words, they use that one carelessly, so that it loses its force; and the thing it stands for, sharing its name with a hundred trivial objects, is deprived of dignity. They call beautiful a dress, a dog, a sermon; and when they are face to face with Beauty cannot recognise it. The false emphasis with which they try to deck their worthless thoughts blunts their susceptibilities. Like th..
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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8f7c887
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I loved flying. I couldn't describe the feeling it gave me, I only knew I felt proud and happy. In the air, 'way up, I felt that I was part of something very great and very beautiful. I didn't know what it was all about, I only knew that I wasn't alone any more, by myself as I was, two thousand-feet up, but that I bebfiged. I can't help it if it sounds silly. When I was flying above the clouds and they were like an enormous flock of sheep b..
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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cfc9362
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I wasn't frightened for myself; I was indignant; it was the wickedness of it that broke me.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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e01767a
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He took you by force-yes, he was drunk at the time. It's not the first time that's happened to a woman and it won't be the last time.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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9750014
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I used to think that one day I should write a really great novel, but I've long ceased even to hope for that. All I want people to say is that I do my best. I do work. I never let anything slipshod get past me. I think I can tell a good story and I can create characters that ring true.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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b388389
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The time has passed when he was an object of ridicule, and it is no longer a mark of eccentricity to defend or of perversity to extol him.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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3b8ef37
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To my mind the most interesting thing in art is the personality of the artist; and if that is singular, I am willing to excuse a thousand faults.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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6901fc6
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It is a grotesque misapprehension which sees in art no more than a craft comprehensible perfectly only to the craftsman: art is a manifestation of emotion, and emotion speaks a language that all may understand.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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caa9756
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The faculty for myth is innate in the human race. It seizes with avidity upon any incidents, surprising or mysterious, in the career of those who have at all distinguished themselves from their fellows, and invents a legend to which it then attaches a fanatical belief.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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ad6be97
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There is nothing so degrading as the constant anxiety about one's means of livelihood. I have nothing but contempt for the people who despise money. They are hypocrites or fools. Money is like a sixth sense without which you cannot make a complete use of the other five. Without an adequate income half the possibilities of life are shut off. The only thing to be careful about is that you do not pay more than a shilling for the shilling you e..
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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7f2b6bc
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I wanted to live again and again. I was willing to accept every sort of life, no matter what its pain and sorrow; I felt that only life after life, life after life could satisfy my eagerness, my vigour, and my curiosity.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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2a3ca37
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Can the law get blood out of a stone? I haven't any money.
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poverty
law-enforcement
law
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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1944040
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She had learnt long ago that common sense, intelligence, good-nature, and strength of character were unimportant in comparison with a pretty face.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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d245400
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The tragedy of love is indifference.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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74a5d69
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The isn't only a sunny place for shady people.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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5fde352
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The trouble with our younger authors is that they are all in the sixties.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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0d1cb6a
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It is unsafe to take your reader for more of a fool than he is.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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6d3215f
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To eat well in England, you should have a breakfast three times a day.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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e8b2d4f
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Money is the string with which a sardonic destiny directs the motions of its puppets.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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49305a1
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A soul is a troublesome possession, and when man developed it he lost the Garden of Eden.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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d14a748
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Men seek but one thing in life -- their pleasure.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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650e218
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It is cruel to discover one's mediocrity only when it is too late.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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c5ea261
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But when all was said the important thing was to love rather than to be loved.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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2263c5b
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The poignancy which all beauty has.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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5936c90
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Self-doubt, which is the artist's bitterest enemy.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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dcf6aeb
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Men are always the same. Fear makes them cruel.
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W. Somerset Maugham |
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ff7007d
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It's very hard to be a gentleman and a writer.
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W. Somerset Maugham |