"There is no object to life. To nature nothing matters but the continuation of the species."

W. Somerset Maugham Literature See all quotes by W. Somerset Maugham →

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More by W. Somerset Maugham

“After all, a man marries to have a home, but also because he doesn't want to be bothered with sex and all that sort of thing.”

“I don't think of the past. The only thing that matters is the everlasting present.”

“He was the kind of man with whom one would have hesitated to pass a lonely evening, but with whom one might cheerfully have looked forward to spending six months.”

“Conscience is the guardian in the individual of the rules which the community has evolved for its own preservation.”

“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 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.”

Resonant Thoughts

"Only from our stories can we discover that our stories have come to an end, otherwise we would go on living as if there were still something for us to continue ; that is, we would go on living in erro…"

— Imre Kertész

Literature1926–2004

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"In the information age, the barriers just aren't there. The barriers are self imposed. If you want to set off and go develop some grand new thing, you don't need millions of dollars of capitalization.…"

— John D. Carmack

Technology1970

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"Eh, gentlemen, let us reckon upon accidents! Life is a chaplet of little miseries which the philosopher counts with a smile. Be philosophers, as I am, gentlemen; sit down at the table and let us drink…"

— Alexandre Dumas

Literature1795–1870

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"The philosopher considering the Universe in its entirety is led to admit that there is only one necessary, absolute being, God. All other beings are contingent; this is why Pascal said of himself: "I …"

— Pierre-Paul Grassé

Science1895–1985

#life