“You know, there are two good things in life, freedom of thought and freedom of action. In France you get freedom of action: you can do what you like and nobody bothers, but you must think like everybody else. In Germany you must do what everybody else does, but you may think as you choose. They're both very good things. I personally prefer freedom of thought. But in England you get neither: you're ground down by convention. You can't think as you like and you can't act as you like. That's because it's a democratic nation. I expect America's worse.”

William Somerset Maugham

William Somerset Maugham - “You know, there are two good...” 1

Similar quotes

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

Somerset Maugham
Read more

“The key to evil? Freedom. The key to freedom? Money. For you, my darlings, freedom to do what you like to do makes you. Not that that stops you doing what you like, since you like doing what you like more than you like liking what you do . . .”

Glen Duncan
Read more

“Alan, you seem to think we won't like you unless you do things just like everyone else. Have you ever thought we might like you because you're different?”

Tamora Pierce
Read more

“If you get down, all you need to do is act like you're feeling good, and next thing you know, you are.”

Jeannette Walls
Read more

“Freedom from obsession is not about something you do; it's about knowing who you are. It's about recognizing what sustains you and what exhausts you. What you love and what you think you love because you believe you can't have it. (p. 163)”

Geneen Roth
Read more