Somerset Maugham

Famous quotes containing the words somerset maugham, somerset and/or maugham:

    Genius is talent provided with ideals. Genius starves while talent wears purple and fine linen. The man of genius of today will in fifty years’ time be in most cases no more than a man of talent.
    Somerset Maugham (1874–1965)

    Tolerance is only another name for indifference.
    —W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1966)

    No one can write a best seller by trying to. He must write with complete sincerity; the clichés that make you laugh, the hackneyed characters, the well-worn situations, the commonplace story that excites your derision, seem neither hackneyed, well worn nor commonplace to him.... The conclusion is obvious: you cannot write anything that will convince unless you are yourself convinced. The best seller sells because he writes with his heart’s blood.
    —W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1966)