The Razor's Edge

by W. Somerset Maugham

If I call it a novel it is only because I don’t know what else to call it. I have little story to tell and I end neither with a death nor a marriage.

wasn’t sure he had the discernment to see how the pretty, strapping girl had made herself into the wonderfully graceful, delicate, and exquisite woman.

There are men who are affronted by the aids that art can supply to feminine nature. “She’s very good to Gray. She’s taking infinite pains to restore his confidence in himself.”

The books were protected from anyone who wanted to read them by gilt latticework, and locked up,

We can none of us step into the same river twice, but the river flows on and the other river we step into is cool and refreshing too.

when you’ve come to the conclusion that something is inevitable all you can do is to make the best of it.”

the Philistines have long since discarded the rack and stake as a means of suppressing the opinions they feared: they’ve discovered a much more deadly weapon of destruction—the wisecrack.”

“Life would be even harder for us poor women than it is if it were not for the unbelievable vanity of men.”