W. Somerset Maugham

"I can imagine no more comfortable frame of mind for the conduct of life than a humorous resignation."

"Impropriety is the soul of wit."

"It's a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it."

"The only important thing in a book is the meaning that it has for you."

"The highest activities of consciousness have their origins in physical occurrences of the brain just as the loveliest melodies are not too sublime to be expressed by notes."

"Every production of an artist should be the expression of an adventure of his soul."

"The great tragedy of life is not that men perish, but that they cease to love."

"When you choose your friends, don't be short-changed by choosing personality over character."

"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."

"You are not angry with people when you laugh at them. Humor teaches tolerance."

"We do not write because we want to; we write because we have to."

"Love is only a dirty trick played on us to achieve continuation of the species."

"The common idea that success spoils people by making them vain, egotistic and self-complacent is erroneous; on the contrary it makes them, for the most part, humble, tolerant and kind."

"What do we any of us have but our illusions? And what do we ask of others but that we be allowed to keep them?"

"I write only when inspiration strikes. Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o'clock sharp."

"There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are."

"Only a mediocre person is always at his best."