W. Somerset Maugham Biography

W. Somerset Maugham, Playwright
Born asWilliam Somerset Maugham
Occup.Playwright
FromUnited Kingdom
BornJanuary 25, 1874
Paris, France
DiedDecember 16, 1965
Nice, France
CausePneumonia
Aged91 years
William Somerset Maugham was born on January 25, 1874, in Paris, France, to British moms and dads. His father, Robert Ormond Maugham, was an attorney, and also his mom, Edith Mary Snell, was the child of a diplomat. Maugham invested his very early youth in France prior to his family transferred to England.

In England, Maugham participated in King's Institution in Canterbury before participating in Heidelberg College in Germany to study viewpoint and also literature. After returning to England, he studied medicine at St. Thomas' Health Center in London but did not finish his level.

In 1897, Maugham released his very first story, Liza of Lambeth, which makes up the life of London's working-class individuals. The novel was an immediate success, and its success encouraged him to continue composing. Nevertheless, his 2nd novel, The Constructing from a Saint, was not well gotten by the public.

In 1902, Maugham embarked on a trip to the South Pacific, where he traveled to Samoa, Tonga, as well as Fiji. This trip influenced his fourth novel, The Moon and Sixpence (1919), which is a fictionalized account of the life of painter Paul Gauguin.

In 1908, Maugham published one more novel, Cakes and also Ale, which was partly based upon his connection with the author Hugh Walpole. The book was slammed for its portrayal of the literary globe, and debate bordering guide placed Maugham in the public eye.

Maugham's most successful jobs were his narratives, which included The Trembling of a Fallen Leave (1921), The Casuarina Tree (1926), as well as The Outstation (1925). His books, plays, as well as narratives often had a negative, dark view of humanity as well as explored isolation as well as alienation, which resonated with many readers.

During World war, Maugham worked as a rescue chauffeur for the Red Cross in France. After the war, he traveled thoroughly, consisting of trips to China, which influenced his play The Circle.

In the 1920s, Maugham started to create plays, consisting of the hugely effective The Constant Partner (1926) and also the questionable play about prostitution, The Letter (1927), which was banned in London temporarily.

In the 1930s, Maugham's success proceeded with his novels, plays, as well as short stories. Nevertheless, a few of his jobs, like Of Human Chains (1915), which informs the tale of the lead character's self-discovery as well as look for love, were criticized for being also autobiographical.

Maugham was also a collection agency of art as well as a prolific tourist, and also he spent much of the 1930s as well as 1940s in the USA, where he created several effective plays, consisting of Lady Frederick, The Letter, and The Circle.

After The Second World War, Maugham's creating appeal faded, as well as he committed his time to traveling and writing memoirs. His narrative, The Summing Up (1938), stated his life and ideas, as well as his last job, A Writer's Notebook (1949), was a collection of essays as well as observations.

Maugham died on December 16, 1965, in Nice, France, at the age of 91. He has been widely considered as one of one of the most effective and also significant British authors of his time, and his works remain to read as well as assessed to this day.

Our collection contains 70 quotes who is written / told by Somerset Maugham, under the main topics: Art - Friendship - Death - Imagination - Marriage.

Related authors: Paul Gauguin (Artist), Lawrence Taylor (Athlete)

W. Somerset Maugham Famous Works:
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70 Famous quotes by W. Somerset Maugham

Small: If you want to eat well in England, eat three breakfasts
"If you want to eat well in England, eat three breakfasts"
Small: We have long passed the Victorian Era when asterisks were followed after a certain interval by a baby
"We have long passed the Victorian Era when asterisks were followed after a certain interval by a baby"
Small: The love that lasts longest is the love that is never returned
"The love that lasts longest is the love that is never returned"
Small: Every production of an artist should be the expression of an adventure of his soul
"Every production of an artist should be the expression of an adventure of his soul"
Small: It is not true that suffering ennobles the character happiness does that sometimes, but suffering for t
"It is not true that suffering ennobles the character; happiness does that sometimes, but suffering for the most part, makes men petty and vindictive"
Small: It wasnt until late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say I dont know.
"It wasn't until late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say "I don't know.""
Small: The writer of prose can only step aside when the poet passes
"The writer of prose can only step aside when the poet passes"
Small: There are two good things in life - freedom of thought and freedom of action
"There are two good things in life - freedom of thought and freedom of action"
Small: Perfection has one grave defect: it is apt to be dull
"Perfection has one grave defect: it is apt to be dull"
Small: Love is only a dirty trick played on us to achieve continuation of the species
"Love is only a dirty trick played on us to achieve continuation of the species"
Small: I can imagine no more comfortable frame of mind for the conduct of life than a humorous resignation
"I can imagine no more comfortable frame of mind for the conduct of life than a humorous resignation"
Small: Impropriety is the soul of wit
"Impropriety is the soul of wit"
Small: Death doesnt affect the living because it has not happened yet. Death doesnt concern the dead because t
"Death doesn't affect the living because it has not happened yet. Death doesn't concern the dead because they have ceased to exist"
Small: The writer is more concerned to know than to judge
"The writer is more concerned to know than to judge"
Small: The world is quickly bored by the recital of misfortune, and willing avoids the sight of distress
"The world is quickly bored by the recital of misfortune, and willing avoids the sight of distress"
Small: It is well known that Beauty does not look with a good grace on the timid advances of Humour
"It is well known that Beauty does not look with a good grace on the timid advances of Humour"
Small: There is no explanation for evil. It must be looked upon as a necessary part of the order of the univer
"There is no explanation for evil. It must be looked upon as a necessary part of the order of the universe. To ignore it is childish, to bewail it senseless"
Small: Money is like a sixth sense without which you cannot make a complete use of the other five
"Money is like a sixth sense without which you cannot make a complete use of the other five"
Small: You can do anything in this world if you are prepared to take the consequences
"You can do anything in this world if you are prepared to take the consequences"
Small: You are not angry with people when you laugh at them. Humor teaches tolerance
"You are not angry with people when you laugh at them. Humor teaches tolerance"
Small: Marriage is a very good thing, but I think its a mistake to make a habit out of it
"Marriage is a very good thing, but I think it's a mistake to make a habit out of it"
Small: In the country the darkness of night is friendly and familiar, but in a city, with its blaze of lights,
"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"
Small: Money is the string with which a sardonic destiny directs the motions of its puppets
"Money is the string with which a sardonic destiny directs the motions of its puppets"
Small: Imagination grows by exercise, and contrary to common belief, is more powerful in the mature than in th
"Imagination grows by exercise, and contrary to common belief, is more powerful in the mature than in the young"
Small: At a dinner party one should eat wisely but not too well, and talk well but not too wisely
"At a dinner party one should eat wisely but not too well, and talk well but not too wisely"
Small: When you choose your friends, dont be short-changed by choosing personality over character
"When you choose your friends, don't be short-changed by choosing personality over character"
Small: Let us develop the resources of our land, call forth its powers, build up its institutions, promote all
"Let us develop the resources of our land, call forth its powers, build up its institutions, promote all its great interests, and see whether we also, in our day and generation, may not perform something worthy to be remembered"
Small: The essence of the beautiful is unity in variety
"The essence of the beautiful is unity in variety"
Small: No egoism is so insufferable as that of the Christian with regard to his soul
"No egoism is so insufferable as that of the Christian with regard to his soul"
Small: People ask for criticism, but they only want praise
"People ask for criticism, but they only want praise"
Small: Only a mediocre person is always at his best
"Only a mediocre person is always at his best"
Small: Old age is ready to undertake tasks that youth shirked because they would take too long
"Old age is ready to undertake tasks that youth shirked because they would take too long"
Small: Old age has its pleasures, which, though different, are not less than the pleasures of youth
"Old age has its pleasures, which, though different, are not less than the pleasures of youth"
Small: My own belief is that there is hardly anyone whose sexual life, if it were broadcast, would not fill th
"My own belief is that there is hardly anyone whose sexual life, if it were broadcast, would not fill the world at large with surprise and horror"
Small: Men have an extraordinarily erroneous opinion of their position in nature and the error is ineradicable
"Men have an extraordinarily erroneous opinion of their position in nature; and the error is ineradicable"
Small: There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are
"There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are"
Small: The world in general doesnt know what to make of originality it is startled out of its comfortable habi
"The world in general doesn't know what to make of originality; it is startled out of its comfortable habits of thought, and its first reaction is one of anger"
Small: The trouble with young writers is that they are all in their sixties
"The trouble with young writers is that they are all in their sixties"
Small: The most useful thing about a principle is that it can always be sacrificed to expediency
"The most useful thing about a principle is that it can always be sacrificed to expediency"
Small: The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit
"The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit"
Small: We are not the same persons this year as last nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changi
"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"
Small: The common idea that success spoils people by making them vain, egotistic and self-complacent is errone
"The common idea that success spoils people by making them vain, egotistic and self-complacent is erroneous; on the contrary it makes them, for the most part, humble, tolerant and kind"
Small: The artist produces for the liberation of his soul. It is his nature to create as it is the nature of w
"The artist produces for the liberation of his soul. It is his nature to create as it is the nature of water to run down the hill"
Small: It seems that the creative faculty and the critical faculty cannot exist together in their highest perf
"It seems that the creative faculty and the critical faculty cannot exist together in their highest perfection"
Small: She had a pretty gift for quotation, which is a serviceable substitute for wit
"She had a pretty gift for quotation, which is a serviceable substitute for wit"
Small: When you are young you take the kindness people show you as your right
"When you are young you take the kindness people show you as your right"
Small: Writing is the supreme solace
"Writing is the supreme solace"
Small: What makes old age hard to bear is not the failing of ones faculties, mental and physical, but the burd
"What makes old age hard to bear is not the failing of one's faculties, mental and physical, but the burden of one's memories"
Small: You know what the critics are. If you tell the truth they only say youre cynical and it does an author
"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"
Small: Anyone can tell the truth, but only very few of us can make epigrams
"Anyone can tell the truth, but only very few of us can make epigrams"
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