Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham

The secret to life is meaningless unless you discover it yourself

You know, there are two good things in life, freedom of thought and freedom of action

People ask you for criticism, but they only want praise

There is nothing so terrible as the pursuit of art by those who have no talent

There's always one who loves and one who lets himself be loved

You will find as you grow older that the first thing needful to make the world a tolerable place to live in is to recognize the inevitable selfishness of humanity. You demand unselfishness from others, which is a preposterous claim that they should sacrifice their desires to yours. Why should they? When you are reconciled to the fact that each is for himself in the world you will ask less from your fellows. They will not disappoint you, and you will look upon them more charitably. Men seek but one thing in life -- their pleasure

Insensibly he formed the most delightful habit in the world, the habit of reading: he did not know that thus he was providing himself with a refuge from all the distress of life; he did not know either that he was creating for himself an unreal world which would make the real world of every day a source of bitter disappointment

I have nothing but contempt for the people who despise money. They are hypocrites or fools. Money is like a sixth sense without which you cannot make a complete use of the other five. Without an adequate income half the possibilities of life are shut off. The only thing to be careful about is that you do not pay more than a shilling for the shilling you earn. You will hear people say that poverty is the best spur to the artist. They have never felt the iron of it in their flesh. They do not know how mean it makes you. It exposes you to endless humiliation, it cuts your wings, it eats into your soul like a cancer

It is cruel to discover one's mediocrity only when it is too late. It does not improve the temper

Why did you look at the sunset?'
Philip answered with his mouth full:
Because I was happy.

Kant thought things, not because they were true, but because he was Kant