W. Somerset Maugham Quotes

To win hearts, smile kindly on people's weaknesses.

Unless you listen, people are weazened in your presence; they become about a third of themselves. Unless you listen, you can't know anybody. Oh, you will know facts and what is in the newspapers and all of history, perhaps, but you will not know one single person. You know, I have come to think listening is love, that's what it really is.

Merit and knowledge will not gain hearts, though they will secure them when gained.

I think it's all about how much you love, understand and can relate to the material you are given.

Writing is weaponized empathy. It's putting yourself in someone else's head. It's finding what's in them that relates to you.

People take a liking to me like I'm a long-lost friend.

Stories teach us empathy. They reveal to us ourselves in the skins of others.

We've got to find a way to use our identities to reach other people.

One can win the attention and time and cooperation of even the most sought-after people by becoming genuinely interested in them.

If we know how to listen to our own heart, we can listen to the hearts of others.

The heart communes best when it does not try to speak.

The desire to reach for the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise.

We are not made for law, we are made for love.

People will not lend you a hand until you first touch their hearts.

Those who are willing to sacrifice and be of service have very little difficulty with people. They know what they are all about. People can't help but want to be near them. They help them; they work with them. That's what love is all about. It starts with your heart and radiates out.

If you don't have the roots somewhere, it's very difficult for people to work with you. Because you are a different person from them. They don't know you, really. They don't know how you feel.

Knowledge and achievements matter little if we do not yet know how to touch the heart of another and be touched.

It's hard to make strangers care about the good things in your life.

Take time to get to know people. Understand where they are coming from, what is important to them. Make sure they are with you.

There are faults which show heart and win hearts, while the virtue in which there is no love, repels.

There is no key to open the heart of another - except curiosity.

Can a sparrow know how a stork feels?

Everyone can resonate with love.

What motivates me is connecting with people and making everybody feel loved.