W. Somerset Maugham Quotes

I'm happy to be here. I'm happy to be anywhere. I'm not kidding.

Even when there are times that we're not happy, happiness will creep in.

It's good to be anywhere.

It's really good to be here and as I always say, it's really good to be anywhere!

You must learn to take life less seriously and to laugh.

My faith helps me overcome such negative emotions and find my equilibrium.

I seldom think about my limitations, and they never make me sad. Perhaps there is just a touch of yearning at times; but it is vague, like a breeze among flowers.

I'm not a particularly dark individual. I have my moments, it's true, but I do have a sense of humor.

The more I expect, the more unhappy I am going to be. The more I accept, the more serene I am.

If anyone ever asked me what I had to complain about it would not have taken long to tell them. Maybe I was just easily pleased.

I try to maintain the perspective that life is meant to be laughed at.

It is more fitting for a man to laugh at life than to lament over it.

Being 'contented' ought to mean in English, as it does in French, being pleased. Being content with an attic ought not to mean being unable to move from it and resigned to living in it; it ought to mean appreciating all there is in such a position.

I endeavor to be wise when I cannot be merry, easy when I cannot be glad, content with what cannot be mended and patient when there be no redress.

I think it's a mistake to miss out on joy just because you have pain.

You know, the standard state for people is 'mildly pleasant.' Negative emotions are quite rare, and extremely positive emotions are rare. But people are mildly pleased most of the time, they're mildly tired a lot of the time, and they wish they were somewhere else a substantial part of the time - but mostly they're mildly pleased.

I don't complain when it's sunny.

I couldn't have children, so that's the bad side. But compared to everything else I have, it's not all that terribly bad. I count my winners rather than my losers.

This is not a bad life.

I have to really enjoy the good things because it makes the bad things OK.

Now God be praised, I will die in peace.

I guess I have never been much of a complainer. You just take what is given you, and don't complain about what you can't affect.

Don't struggle to get what you want, but modify your wants.

I am willing ... when I cannot get all I wish, to take what I can get.

If you cannot have what you believe in, you must believe in what you have.