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.
W. Somerset Maugham
Related He is indebted to his memory for his jests and to his imagination for his facts. RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN The right honorable gentlemen is indebted to his memory for his jokes and his imagination for his fa... RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN He has no agenda. He looks at the facts, uncovers the facts and goes where the facts lead him. DAVID KELLEY The Right Honourable Gentleman is indebted to his memory for his jests, and to his imagination for h... RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN Every man has a right to his own opinion, but no man has a right to be wrong in his facts BERNARD M. BARUCH If a person is to get the meaning of life he must learn to like the facts about himself -- ugly as t... EUGENE O'NEILL If a person is to get the meaning of life he must learn to like the facts about himself -- ugly as... EUGENE O'NEILL The key to every man is his thought. Sturdy and defying though he look, he has a helm which he obeys... RALPH WALDO EMERSON Every man has a right to his opinion, but no man has a right to be wrong in his facts. BERNARD M. BARUCH Every man has a right to his opinion, but no man has a right to be wrong in his facts. BERNARD BARUCH Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts. DANIEL PATRICK MOYNIHAN Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts. DANIEL PATRICK MOYNIHAN Every man has a right to be wrong in his opinions. But no man has a right to be wrong in his facts. BERNARD BARUCH Every man has a right to be wrong in his opinions. But no man has a right to be wrong in his facts. BERNARD M. BARUCH Every man has a right to be wrong in his opinions. But no man has a right to be wrong in his facts. BERNARD BARUCH To me, the single most important thing to me is that he has the right judicial philosophy, ... He wi... DAVID VITTER Obviously the facts are never just coming at you but are incorporated by an imagination that is form... PHILIP ROTH Obviously the facts are never just coming at you but are incorporated by an imagination that is for... PHILIP ROTH There seem to be only two kinds of people: Those who think that metaphors are facts, and those who k... JOSEPH CAMPBELL I do not believe he has an agenda to reverse our nation's historic commitment to civil rights, and I... JEFF BINGAMAN If you get all the facts, your judgment can be right; if you don't get all the facts, it can'... BERNARD BARUCH The power of a writer is that he is a god of sorts. He can create his own worlds and populate them w... BANGAMBIKI HABYARIMANA Melville brought to the task a sound knowledge of actual whaling, much curious learning in the liter... CARL CLINTON VAN DOREN A musician cannot move others unless he too is moved. He must of necessity feel all of the affects t... CARL PHILIPP EMANUEL BACH The anarch sticks to facts, not ideas. He suffers not for facts but because of them, and usually thr... ERNST JüNGER The first step is going to be to look into the facts. There are a lot of assertions going around. If... MATT CRONIN The reporter is the daily prisoner of clocked facts. On all working days, he is expected to do his b... JIM BISHOP Truthiness is what you want the facts to be as opposed to what the facts are. What feels like the ri... STEPHEN COLBERT When God sees the effort and the diligence of a person to get closer to Him, He will lead Him in the... SUNDAY ADELAJA But I don't about the facts. I know Jamal's character, and to me, he's always been a straightforward... ANTHONY WEAVER You must take into account the actual distinction between truth and fact. It is beyond all human pow... ROSE WILDER LANE I'm not a fan of facts. You see, facts can change, but my opinion will never change, no matter what ... STEPHEN COLBERT You can tell (he's upset) when he gets that look in his eyes. When you see that look, you know. But ... CONNER HOLM If a man has the right to self-ownership, to the control of his life, then in the real world he must... MURRAY N. ROTHBARD Howard Dean is not the first politician to distort facts in his own interests. But many activists in... ROBERT NOVAK When a man gets to despair he knows that all his thinking will never get him out. He will only get o... OSWALD CHAMBERS We are each entitled to our own opinion, but no one is entitled to his own facts. PATRICK MOYNIHAN When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upo... BIBLE If you get all the facts, your judgment can be right; if you don't get all the facts, it can't be ri... BERNARD BARUCH If you get all the facts, your judgment can be right; if you don't get all the facts, it can't be ri... BERNARD M. BARUCH Great abilities are not requisite for an Historian; for in historical composition, all the greatest ... SAMUEL JOHNSON He's a very smart receiver in the slot, ... He does a great job with his moves at the top of his rou... DREW BLEDSOE And not only of even mainly because of the protection it had given him - it was thanks to his own st... MICHAEL ENDE No man has a right to expect to succeed in life unless he understands his business, and nobody can u... P. T. BARNUM For 20 years they have been asking me the same question, who is the greatest? Maradona or Pele? I re... PELE We have never authorized detention of a citizen in this county without giving him an opportunity to ... FRANK DUNHAM A man vows, and yet will not east away the means of breaking his vow. Is it that he distinctly means... GEORGE ELIOT Get the facts, or the facts will get you. And when you get em, get em right, or they will get you wr... THOMAS FULLER Get the facts, or the facts will get you. And when you get 'em, get 'em right, or they will get you ... THOMAS FULLER Get the facts, or the facts will get you. And when you get them, get them right, or they will get yo... DR. THOMAS FULLER The purpose of a scientist is not to present blunt facts to the people. It is to present the fact... ABHIJIT NASKAR I have no right to say or do anything that diminishes a man in his own eyes. What matters is not wha... ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPERY I have no right to say or do anything that diminishes a man in his own eyes. What matters is not wha... ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPéRY I consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with... ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE He was beaten (he knew that); but he was not broken. He saw, once for all, that he stood no chance a... JACK LONDON All knowledge that is about human society, and not about the natural world, is historical knowledge,... EDWARD SAID When someone is good at what he does but is a nonconformist, there is a temptation in horse racing, ... DAVID MILCH What a remarkable man he is and he really deserves to be a head coach in his own right, MIKE MARTZ A writer never forgets the first time he accepted a few coins or a word of praise in exchange for a ... CARLOS RUIZ ZAFóN That's one thing I like about Hollywood. The writer is there revealed in his ultimate corruption. He... RAYMOND CHANDLER He played a brilliant game, ... We were able to at least salvage two points for him. Let's face the ... RICK NASH When you make a decision, you need facts. If those facts are in your brain, they're at your fing... KEN JENNINGS [If a man] postpone[s] any open acknowledgement... that his own faith is in direct opposition to the... C.S. LEWIS Never lose sight of the fact that all human felicity lies in man's imagination, and that he cannot t... MARQUIS DE SADE I never wanted to see him fired. I just wanted to see him teach the facts and not his own biased pol... SEAN ALLEN The primary task of a useful teacher is to teach his students to recognize 'inconvenient' fa... MAX WEBER What George W. Bush learned in his pre-presidential years - and what he omits in his new memoirs - w... NIGEL HAMILTON He has been known to devour men.” “He’s a cannibal?” Cadmus asked in horror. SULARI GENTILL When one takes into account also His reiterated assertions about His Divinity - such as asking us to... FULTON J. SHEEN But he was not kidnapped. ... It's in his imagination. He creates his own world and he believes it i... GERARD LATORTUE I can barely get a guy in my own town to realize I'm alive. Well that’s not true, he knows I’m a... BRYNNA GABRIELSON Co-operation means full co-operation with the government, which is that he intends to appear when ca... ANTON VALUKAS It is not so very important for a person to learn facts. For
that he does not really need a colleg... JOHN DRYDEN It is not so very important for a person to learn facts. For that he does not really need a college.... ALBERT EINSTEIN Look, look,' cried the count, seizing the young man's hands - "look, for on my soul it is curious. H... ALEXANDRE DUMAS Sin bravely...We will never have all the facts to make a perfect judgement, but with the aid of ba... RUSSELL R MCINTYRE Sin bravely...We will never have all the facts to make a perfect judgement, but with the aid of bas... RUSSELL R MCINTYRE Sin bravely...We will never have all the facts to make a perfect judgement, but with the aid of basi... RUSSELL R. MCINTYRE A judge is not supposed to know anything about the facts of life until they have been presented in e... LORD CHIEF JUSTICE PARKER Greatness is a transitory experience. It is never consistent. It depends in part upon the myth-makin... FRANK HERBERT But the child grows up, and reaches adolescence. He stands on the threshold of life, and the school-... AIMéE DOSTOYEVSKY 35. God is entitled to a portion of our income—not because He needs it but because we need to give... JAMES C. DOBSON Never lose sight of the fact that all human felicity lies in man's imagination, and that he cann... MARQUIS DE SADE What are the facts? Again and again and again - what are the facts? Shun wishful thinking, ignore di... , FROM ROBERT HEINLEIN'S "TIME ENOUGH FOR LOVE" An angry man rarely stops to let facts get in the way of his fury. NIKKI SEX A writer may not know the way at first; but if he endeavors to complete his task, he carves a path w... SUSAN J. MCINTIRE In order to appreciate a great man, we must know his surroundings. We must understand the scope of t... ROBERT GREEN INGERSOLL A man must know his destiny
if he does not recognize it, then he is lost. By this I mean, once, tw... GENERAL GEORGE S. PATTON A man must know his destiny… if he does not recognize it, then he is lost. By this I mean, once, t... GEORGE S. PATTON JR. A man must know his destiny… if he does not recognize it, then he is lost. By this I mean, once, t... GENERAL GEORGE S. PATTON He who regards another's wife as his mother, the wealth that does not belong to him as a lump of mud... CHANAKYA To read a writer is for me not merely to get an idea of what he says, but to go off with him and tra... ANDRE GIDE He sees the world in very stark terms. Not good/ evil terms, but his own strict definition of right ... MARC GUGGENHEIM When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a c... ERNEST HEMINGWAY Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the trut... OSCAR WILDE At first, man was enslaved by the gods. But he broke their chains. Then he was enslaved by the kings... AYN RAND Mathias shrugged. After all, a criminal lawyer is not concerned with facts. He is concerned with pro... RICHARD HUGHES I'll miss his father-like guidance, his friendship and his yelling, because he didn't yell often but... GREG ROLLINS To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and l... BIBLE When he gets his muscle back, he will be fine. He is really a great kid. Most people wouldn't do wha... DAN HARRIS
More W. Somerset Maugham
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SOMERSET MAUGHAM They were talking more distantly than if they were strangers who had just met, for if they had been ... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM How can I be reasonable? To me our love was everything and you were my whole life. It is not very pl... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM People ask you for criticism, but they only want praise. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM I would sooner read a time-table or a catalogue than nothing at all. They are much more entertaining... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM Perfection has one grave defect: it is apt to be dull. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM Few misfortunes can befall a boy which bring worse consequence than to have a really affectionate mo... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM Self-control might be as passionate and as active as the surrender to passion... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM It is an illusion that youth is happy, an illusion of those who have lost it; but the young know the... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM The only important thing in a book is the meaning that it has for you. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM The secret to life is meaningless unless you discover it yourself. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM I have an idea that some men are born out of their due place. Accident has cast them amid certain su... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM Death is a very dull, dreary affair, and my advice to you is to have nothing whatsoever to do with i... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM Unfortunately sometimes one can't do what one thinks is right without making someone else unhappy. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM People do tell a writer things that they don't tell others. I don't know why, unless it is that havi... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM Perhaps the most important use of money - It saves time. Life is so short, and there's so much to do... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM There are few things so pleasant as a picnic eaten in perfect comfort. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM The dead look so terribly dead when they're dead. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM We who are of mature age seldom suspect how unmercifully and yet with what insight the very young ju... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM It's a toss-up when you decide to leave the beaten track. Many are called, but few are chosen. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM It is very difficult to know people and I don't think one can ever really know any but one's own cou... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM I never spend more than one hour in a gallery. That is as long as one's power of appreciation persis... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM I like manual labor. Whenever I've got waterlogged with study, I've taken a spell of it and found it... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM An author spends months writing a book, and maybe puts his heart's blood into it, and then it lies a... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM All important persons have about them someone in a subordinate position who has their ear. These dep... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM A man ought to work. That's what he's here for. That's how he contributes to the welfare of the comm... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM To write simply is as difficult as to be good. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM It is funny about life: if you refuse to accept anything but the very best you will very often get i... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM When I was young I had an elderly friend who used often to ask me to stay with him in the country. H... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM Love is a dirty trick played on us to achieve the continuation of the species. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM We have long passed the Victorian era, when asterisks were followed after a certain interval by a ba... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM You can't learn too soon that the most useful thing about a principle is that it can always be sacri... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM You are not angry with people when you laugh at them. Humor teaches them tolerance. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM There is hardly anyone whose sexual life, if it were broadcast, would not fill the world at large wi... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM Sometimes people carry to such perfection the mask they have assumed that in due course they actuall... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM Tolerance is only another name for indifference. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM Man has always sacrificed truth to his vanity, comfort and advantage. He lives by make-believe. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM I do not confer praise or blame: I accept. I am the measure of all things. I am the centre of the wo... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM I daresay one profits more by the mistakes one makes off one's own bat than by doing the right thing... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM He had heard people speak contemptuously of money: he wondered if they had ever tried to do without ... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM Follow your inclinations with due regard to the policeman round the corner. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM D'you call life a bad job? Never! We've had our ups and downs, we've had our struggles, we've always... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM Art is merely the refuge which the ingenious have invented, when they were supplied with food and wo... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM People ask for criticism, but they only want praise. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM When you have loved as she has loved, you grow old beautifully. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM We do not write because we want to; we write because we have to. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM The common idea that success spoils people by making them vain, egotistic, and self-complacent is er... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM She had a pretty gift for quotation, which is a serviceable substitute for wit. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM It's a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM It was such a lovely day I thought it a pity to get up. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM It is a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM Dying is a very dull, dreary affair. And my advice to you is to have nothing whatever to do with it. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM Nothing in the world is permanent, and we're foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we're ... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM Old age has its pleasures, which, though different, are not less than the pleasures of youth. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM The complete life, the perfect pattern, includes old age as well as youth and maturity. The beauty o... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM Old age is ready to undertake tasks that youth shirked because they would take too long. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM What makes old age hard to bear is not the failing of one's faculties, mental and physical, but the ... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM When I was young I was amazed at Plutarch's statement that the elder Cato began at the age of eighty... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM The common idea that success spoils people by making them vain, egotistic, and self-complacent is er... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM It is an illusion that youth is happy, an illusion of those who has lost it. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM Charm and nothing but charm at last grows a little tiresome. It's a relief then to deal with a man w... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM As if a woman ever loved a man for his virtue. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM Life isn't long enough for love and art. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM The most useful thing about a principle is that it can always be sacrificed to expediency. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM When things are at their worst I find something always happens. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM When I read a book I seem to read it with my eyes only, but now and then I come across a passage, pe... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM There's always one who loves and one who lets himself be loved. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM There was an immeasurable distance between the quick and the dead: they did not seem to belong to th... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM The rain fell alike upon the just and upon the unjust, and for nothing was there a why and a wherefo... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM The important thing was to love rather than to be loved. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM Money is like a sixth sense without which you cannot make a complete use of the other five. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM Men seek but one thing in life - their pleasure. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM Life wouldn't be worth living if I worried over the future as well as the present. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM It's asking a great deal that things should appeal to your reason as well as your sense of the aesth... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM It is cruel to discover one's mediocrity only when it is too late. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM It is an illusion that youth is happy, an illusion of those who have lost it; but the young know the... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM You Europeans know nothing about America. Because we amass large fortunes you think we care for noth... W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM