God help me, he thought. God help all us poor wretches who could create and find we must lose our hearts for it because we cannot afford to spend our time at it. (“Mad House”)

About This Quote

While in his twenties, W. Somerset Maugham was unable to write anything worth publishing. Even when he had completed a book, he was unable to sell it. One day, while walking in the country with the writer Aldous Huxley, he lamented that he could not finish anything worthwhile because he had no income.

He turned to Huxley and asked him if he had any money. Of course, Huxley responded, but he did not have much at the time. Maugham then said that if Huxley would give him five hundred pounds, he would work on a book for another five years before publishing anything.

Why did Maugham want five hundred pounds? It was because that was what it took to feed himself for one year!

Source: Collected Stories, Vol. 1

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