People ask you for criticism, but they only want praise.
W. Somerset Maugham – Cakes and Ale
Desire for Praise
D
Wake Up to Reality
W
The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.
W. Somerset Maugham – Cakes and Ale
Tradition’s Role
T
Tradition is a guide and not a jailer.
W. Somerset Maugham – Cakes and Ale
Change and Love
C
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.
W. Somerset Maugham – Cakes and Ale
Youthful Illusions
Y
It is an illusion that youth is happy, an illusion of those who have lost it.
W. Somerset Maugham – Cakes and Ale
Novel Writing Rules
N
There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.
W. Somerset Maugham – Cakes and Ale
Consequences of Actions
C
You can do anything in this world if you are prepared to take the consequences.
W. Somerset Maugham – Cakes and Ale
Dullness of Death
D
Death is a very dull, dreary affair, and my advice to you is to have nothing whatsoever to do with it.
W. Somerset Maugham – Cakes and Ale
Balance at Dinner Parties
B
At a dinner party one should eat wisely but not too well, and talk well but not too wisely.
W. Somerset Maugham – Cakes and Ale
Quotation vs. Wit
Q
The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit.
W. Somerset Maugham – Cakes and Ale