W. Somerset Maugham Quotes

There's no such thing as coulda, shoulda, or woulda. If you shoulda and coulda, you woulda done it.

When I got the money, the whole burden descended on me, and the realization of what I had done. And it led me then to make the further step, a change of loyalties.

It's hard to regret making the choice that you think is right.

there are risks you'll take for yourself because you know that if your plan goes wrong, it'll be too late for regrets. but if you risk the lives of others and fail, you'll have a lifetime to regret it.

Ethan thought he was doing the right thing. He knew it was crazy. And he didn’t want to go, but he had to anyway. Ethan was like that. Even if he was dead. He saved the world, but he shattered mine. What now?

Whatever happens, take responsibility.

The real question is: How do you react? What do you do next? Evade responsibilities? Bury yourself in work? What do you do? All three of my novels take up that question, although none gives an answer.

I've made a decision and now I must face the consequences.

Only when the voice of duty is silent, or when it has already spoken, may we allowably think of the consequences of a particular action.

We seal our fate with the choices we take, but don't give a second thought to the chances we take.

As to marriage or celibacy, let a man take which course he will, he will be sure to repent.

It is only too easy to make suggestions and later try to escape the consequences of what we say.

Caesar might have married Cleopatra, but he had a wife at home. There's always something.

I should have worried about taking responsibilities for which I was not ready.

Perhaps it is better to be irresponsible and right than to be responsible and wrong.

It's one thing to make the speeches. It's another to make the tough decisions.

If officials on the spot commit in good faith an error of judgment, which is worse—to support them or to throw them over?

Never point a rifle at anyone unless you’re willing to pull the trigger. If we say something is unacceptable to us, that means we can never accept it.

If you had special powers, it wouldn't be all fun and games. There would be regrets for things you've done.

If you made the choice to get in there and fight, you have to accept accountability for whatever happens.

Men outlive their love, but they don’t outlive the consequences of their recklessness.

Things are so easy to do, so hard to undo.

But it seems to me that once you begin a gesture it's fatal not to go through with it.

If you're not gonna pull the trigger, don't point the gun.

I never know which is worse: the sorrow when you hit the bird or the shame when you miss it.