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What Makes Old Age Hard To Bear Is Not The Failing Of One's Faculties, Mental And Physical, But The Burden Of One's Memories.
-W. Somerset Maugham
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What Makes Old Age

W. Somerset Maugham
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What Makes Old Age Hard To Bear Is Not The Failing Of One's Faculties, Mental And Physical, But The Burden Of One's Memories.

Understanding the Quote: "what makes old age hard to bear is not the failing of..."

This quote by W. Somerset Maugham reflects deeply on the theme of time. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Time, Memories, Age, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how W. Somerset Maugham interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About W. Somerset Maugham

W. Somerset Maugham is celebrated for insightful thoughts on time and memories. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Time
Memories
Age
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When She Liked Anyone It Was Quite Natural For Her To Go To Bed With Him. She Never Thought Twice About It. It Was Not Vice; It Wasn't Lasciviousness; It Was Her Nature. She Gave Herself As Naturally As The Sun Gives Heat Or The Flowers Their Perfume. It Was A Pleasure To Her And She Liked To Give Pleasure To Others.
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How Can I Be Reasonable? To Me Our Love Was Everything And You Were My Whole Life. It Is Not Very Pleasant To Realize That To You It Was Only An Episode.
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So Long As Some Are Strong And Some Are Weak, The Weak Will Be Driven To The Wall.
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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.
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Art
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If A Man Hasn't What's Necessary To Make A Woman Love Him, It's His Fault, Not Hers.
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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.
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They Say A Woman Always Remembers Her First Lover With Affection; But Perhaps She Does Not Always Remember Him.
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Money Is Like A Sixth Sense Without Which You Cannot Make A Complete Use Of The Other Five.
Inspirational
Life
Happiness
Tolerance Is Only Another Name For Indifference.
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Tolerance
Atheism
Art, If It Is To Be Reckoned As One Of The Great Values Of Life, Must Teach Man Humility, Tolerance, Wisdom And Magnanimity. The Value Of Art Is Not Beauty, But Right Action.
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Men
Art Is Triumphant When It Can Use Convention As An Instrument Of Its Own Purpose.
Art
Purpose
Use
It Must Be A Fault In Me That I Am Not Gravely Shocked At The Sins Of Others Unless They Personally Affect Me.
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Sin
Shocked
The Nature Of Men And Women - Their Essential Nature - Is So Vile And Despicable That If You Were To Portray A Person As He Really Is, No One Would Believe You.
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Men
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Children
School
Perhaps The Most Important Use Of Money - It Saves Time. Life Is So Short, And There's So Much To Do, One Can't Afford To Waste A Minute; And Just Think How Much You Waste, For Instance, In Walking From Place To Place Instead Of Going By Bus And In Going By Bus Instead Of By Taxi.
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The Prestige You Acquire By Being Able To Tell Your Friends That You Know Famous Men Proves Only That You Are Yourself Of Small Account.
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Writing
Feels
When Some Incident Has Shattered The Career You’ve Mapped Out For Yourself, A Folly, A Crime Or A Misfortune, You Mustn’t Think You’re Down And Out. It May Be A Stroke Of Luck, And When You Look Back Years Later You May Say To Yourself That You Wouldn’t For Anything In The World Exchange The New Life Disaster Has Forced Upon You For The Dull, Humdrum Existence You Would Have Led If Circumstances Hadn’t Intervened.
Thinking
Years
Careers
From Old Habit, Unconsciously He Thanked God That He No Longer Believed In Him.
Old Habits
Habit
Human Bondage
In Heaven, When The Blessed Use The Telephone They Will Say What They Have To Say And Not A Word Besides.
Blessed
Heaven
Use
It Must Be That To Govern A Nation You Need A Specific Talent And That This May Very Well Exist Without General Ability.
Government
Needs
May
Why Should You Think That Beauty, Which Is The Most Precious Thing In The World, Lies Like A Stone On The Beach For The Careless Passer-by To Pick Up Idly? Beauty Is Something Wonderful And Strange That The Artist Fashions Out Of The Chaos Of The World In The Torment Of His Soul. And When He Has Made It, It Is Not Given To All To Know It. To Recognize It You Must Repeat The Adventure Of The Artist. It Is A Melody That He Sings To You, And To Hear It Again In Your Own Heart You Want Knowledge And Sensitiveness And Imagination.
Fashion
Beach
Lying
I'd Sooner Be Smashed Into A Mangled Pulp By A Bus When We Cross The Street Than Look Forward To A Life Like Yours.
Looks
Crosses
Bus
As If A Woman Ever Loved A Man For His Virtue.
Men
Virtue
Ifs
There Is Only One Way To Win Hearts And That Is To Make Oneself Like Unto Those Of Whom One Would Be Loved.
Heart
Winning
Would Be
The Novel May Stimulate You To Think. It May Satisfy Your Aesthetic Sense. It May Arouse Your Moral Emotions. But If It Does Not Entertain You It Is A Bad Novel.
Thinking
Doe
May
A Good Rule For Writers: Do Not Explain Overmuch.
Writing
I Never Met An Author Who Admitted That People Did Not Buy His Book Because It Was Dull.
Book
Reading
People
A Bird In The Hand Was Worth Two In The Bush, He Told Her, To Which She Retorted That A Proverb Was The Last Refuge Of The Mentally Destitute.
Hands
Two
Bird
A Unitarian Very Earnestly Disbelieves What Everyone Else Believes.
Believe
Religion
Unitarian
Simplicity And Naturalness Are The Truest Marks Of Distinction.
Simplicity
Distinction
Mark
It Is An Illusion That Youth Is Happy, An Illusion Of Those Who Have Lost It.
Time
Lost Youth
Age
She Alone Had Been Blind To His Merit. Why? Because He Loved Her And She Did Not Love Him. What Was It In The Human Heart That Made You Despise A Man Because He Loved You?
Heart
Men
Merit
We Who Are Of Mature Age Seldom Suspect How Unmercifully And Yet With What Insight The Very Young Judge Us.
Judging
Age
Mature
The Average American Can Get Into The Kingdom Of Heaven Much More Easily Than He Can Get Into The Boulevard St. Germain.
Fashion
Average
Heaven
Love Is Only A Dirty Trick Played On Us To Achieve Continuation Of The Species.
Love
Sarcastic
Depressing
Comedy Appeals To The Collective Mind Of The Audience And This Grows Fatigued; While Farce Appeals To A More Robust Organ, Their Collective Belly.
Mind
Farce
Comedy
I Wish I Could Make You See How Much Fuller The Life I Offer You Is Than Anything You Have A Conception Of. I Wish I Could Make You See How Exciting The Life Of The Spirit Is And How Rich In Experience. It's Illimitable. It's Such A Happy Life. There's Only One Thing Like It, When You're Up In A Plane By Yourself, High, High, And Only Infinity Surrounds You. You're Intoxicated By The Boundless Space.
Happy Life
Space
Wish
It Is Good To Be On Your Guard Against An Englishman Who Speaks French Perfectly; He Is Very Likely To Be A Card-sharper Or An Attache In The Diplomatic Service.
Speaks French
Cards
Diplomatic
A Little Smoke Lost In The Air, That Was The Life Of A Man.
Men
Air
Littles
I Have An Idea That The Only Thing Which Makes It Possible To Regard This World We Live In Without Disgust Is The Beauty Which Now And Then Men Create Out Of The Chaos. The Pictures They Paint, The Music They Compose, The Books They Write, And The Lives They Lead. Of All These The Richest In Beauty Is The Beautiful Life. That Is The Perfect Work Of Art.
Beautiful
Art
Book
An Unfortunate Thing About This World Is That The Good Habits Are Much Easier To Give Up Than The Bad Ones.
Giving Up
Unfortunate Things
World
A Writer Need Not Devour A Whole Sheep In Order To Know What Mutton Tastes Like, But He Must At Least Eat A Chop. Unless He Gets His Facts Right, His Imagination Will Lead Him Into All Kinds Of Nonsense, And The Facts He Is Most Likely To Get Right Are The Facts Of His Own Experience.
Sheep
Order
Imagination
When I Was Young I Had An Elderly Friend Who Used Often To Ask Me To Stay With Him In The Country. He Was A Religious Man And He Read Prayers To The Assembled Household Every Morning. But He Had Crossed Out In Pencil All The Passages That Praised God. He Said That There Was Nothing So Vulgar As To Praise People To Their Faces And, Himself A Gentleman, He Could Not Believe That God Was So Ungentlemanly As To Like It.
Country
Religious
Morning
Truth Is Not Only Stranger Than Fiction, It Is More Telling. To Know That A Thing Actually Happened Gives It A Poignancy, Touches A Chord, Which A Piece Of Acknowledged Fiction Misses. It Is To Touch This Chord That Some Authors Have Done Everything They Could To Give You The Impression That They Are Telling The Plain Truth.
Giving
Missing
Fiction
I Do Not Believe They Are Right Who Say That The Defects Of Famous Men Should Be Ignored. I Think It Is Better That We Should Know Them. Then, Though We Are Conscious Of Having Faults As Glaring As Theirs, We Can Believe That That Is No Hindrance To Our Achieving Also Something Of Their Virtues.
Inspirational
Life
Believe
Success. I Don't Believe It Has Any Effect On Me. For One Thing I Always Expected It.
Work
Believe
Expected
It Has Been Said That Metaphysics Is The Finding Of Bad Reasons For What We Believe Upon Instinct.
Philosophy
Believe
Reason
A God That Can Be Understood Is No God. Who Can Explain The Infinite In Words?
God
Infinite
Understood
The Future Will One Day Be The Present And Will Seem As Unimportant As The Present Does Now.
One Day
Doe
Seems
It Was Such A Beautiful Day I Decided To Stay In Bed.
Beautiful
Beautiful Day
Bed
Men Have Ascribed To God Imperfections That They Would Deplore In Themselves.
Men
Imperfection
Religion
Now It Is A Funny Thing About Life. If You Refuse To Accept Anything But The Best, You Very Often Get It. If You Utterly Decline To Make Do With What You Can Get, Then Somehow Or Other, You Are Very Likely To Get What You Want.
Determination
Funny Things
Want
No Man In His Heart Is Quite So Cynical As A Well-bred Woman.
Heart
Men
Cynical
Charm And Nothing But Charm At Last Grows A Little Tiresome. It's A Relief Then To Deal With A Man Who Isn't Quite So Delightful But A Little More Sincere.
Men
Relief
Littles
It Is An Illusion That Youth Is Happy, An Illusion Of Those Who Have Lost It; But The Young Know They Are Wretched For They Are Full Of The Truthless Ideals Which Have Been Instilled In Them, And Each Time They Come Into Contact With The Real, They Are Bruised And Wounded.
Truth
Real
Youth
It Is Clear That Men Accept An Immediate Pain Rather Than An Immediate Pleasure, But Only Because They Expect A Greater Pleasure In The Future. Often The Pleasure Is Illusory, But Their Error In Calculation Is No Refutation Of The Rule.
Country
Children
Pain
The Mathematician Who After Seeing Phedre Asked: 'qu'est Que Ca Prouve?' Was Not Such A Fool As He Has Been Generally Made Out. No One Has Ever Been Able To Explain Why The Doric Temple Of Paestum Is More Beautiful Than A Glass Of Cold Beer Except By Bringing In Considerations That Have Nothing To Do With Beauty.
Funny
Beauty
Beautiful
Most People Are Such Fools That It Is Really No Great Compliment To Say That Someone Is Above The Average.
Work
Average
People
Life Isn't Long Enough For Love And Art.
Life
Famous Love
Art
There Is No Object To Life. To Nature Nothing Matters But The Continuation Of The Species.
Matter
Continuation
Species
Impropriety Is The Soul Of Wit.
Inspirational
Life
Advice
Habits In Writing As In Life Are Only Useful If They Are Broken As Soon As They Cease To Be Advantageous.
Writing
Broken
Habit
I Am Told That Today Rather More Than 60 Per Cent Of The Men Who Go To University Go On A Government Grant. This Is A New Class That Has Entered Upon The Scene. It Is The White-collar Proletariat. They Do Not Go To University To Acquire Culture But To Get A Job, And When They Have Got One, Scamp It. They Have No Manners And Are Woefully Unable To Deal With Any Social Predicament. Their Idea Of A Celebration Is To Go To A Public House And Drink Six Beers. They Are Mean, Malicious And Envious . They Are Scum.
Jobs
Mean
Beer
Art Should Be Appreciated With Passion And Violence, Not With A Tepid, Depreciating Elegance That Fears The Censoriousness Of A Common Room.
Art
Passion
Rooms
The Crown Of Literature Is Poetry.
Hygiene
Poetry
Crowns
No Married Man's Ever Made Up His Mind Until He's Heard What His Wife Has Got To Say About It.
Men
Wife
Mind
What Does Democracy Come Down To? The Persuasive Power Of Slogans Invented By Wily Self-seeking Politicians.
Self
Democracy
Atheism
It's No Good Trying To Keep Up Old Friendships. It's Painful For Both Sides. The Fact Is, One Grows Out Of People, And The Only Thing Is To Face It.
Life
Friendship
Time
It's Asking A Great Deal That Things Should Appeal To Your Reason As Well As Your Sense Of The Aesthetic. - Of Human Bondage
Asking
Reason
Human Bondage
The Passing Moment Is All We Can Be Sure Of; It Is Only Common Sense To Extract Its Utmost Value From It.
Life
Passing Moments
Common Sense
She Plunged Into A Sea Of Platitudes, And With The Powerful Breast Stroke Of A Channel Swimmer Made Her Confident Way Towards The White Cliffs Of The Obvious.
Sarcastic
Powerful
Sea
Of All These The Richest In Beauty Is The Beautiful Life. That Is The Perfect Work Of Art. ~waddington
Beautiful
Art
Perfect
There Are Two Good Things In Life - Freedom Of Thought And Freedom Of Action.
Freedom
Things In Life
Two
But I Am Not Sure It Would Contain Any Short Stories. For The Short Story Is A Minor Art, And It Must Content Itself With Moving, Exciting And Amusing The Reader. ...i Do Not Think That There Is Any (short Story) That Will Give The Reader That Thrill, That Rapture, That Fruitful Energy Which Great Art Can Produce.
Art
Moving
Thinking
Clearly Much That Seemed Valid Seemed So Only Because He Had Been Taught It From Earliest Youth.
Prejudice
Taught
Youth
I Can Imagine No More Comfortable Frame Of Mind For The Conduct Of Life Than A Humorous Resignation.
Funny
Life
Happiness
We Have Long Passed The Victorian Era When Asterisks Were Followed After A Certain Interval By A Baby.
Baby
Long
Eras
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